It's Temporary
by WriterandDaydreamer4218
Summary: It was only supposed to be for two weeks...and then four...then two months...then the rest of the summer. Pietro and Wanda spend three months with the Barton family and rediscover what it's like to live in a family through a series of adventures, misadventures, and heartfelt moments. Requests now closed.
1. Arrival

**Hey everybody!**

 **I know I probably shouldn't be taking on another Avengers story, but I've had this idea in my head for a really long time, and you know plot bunnies-they just won't leave you alone until you give them what they want. :)**

 **So, this is basically a series of oneshots that take place in the Barton household (with Pietro, Wanda, and maybe some other Avengers). There's probably going to be an ongoing storyline at some point, but I have a few unconnected things that I'll put out first. This story is also a sequel of sorts to one of my other Avengers stories,** **Twelve Days.** **While it's not imperative that you read that, it might help the story make a little more sense.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers.**

 **I'd just like to wish anyone who has finals in the next couple of weeks good luck. I had mine a little while ago and I know how stressful they can be. Study hard; you'll do great.**

 **That's my little spiel. Sorry it's a little longer than normal. Now onto the story…**

 **Enjoy!**

The Quinjet came to a landing in a swirl of jet engines and rustling of trees. It was a sunny morning at the beginning of summer, and Pietro Maximoff couldn't be happier. In a way, he was coming home. Well, technically the Barton farm wasn't his real home, but he liked to pretend. He certainly felt more relaxed here than he did almost anywhere else-except for maybe the Avengers base. But it was nice to take a break every once in a while-and he thought a break was certainly warranted.

His twin sister, Wanda, tossed him his backpack. They'd gone shopping the day before and he'd gotten to pick his out-it was green and black, with plenty of deep pockets. He powered down his iPad and made sure it was safely stowed. The iPad had been a gift from Tony; a welcome-to-the-team present of sorts. Wanda had one too, though hers was red rather than white. "Let's go. Clint is waiting for us out back." she said. Pietro still thought it was amazing how far she'd come in just a few short weeks. Three weeks ago she'd been in the hospital, near death-and now it was like that nightmare hadn't even happened.

"Coming, coming. I'll meet you there." He glanced down at the steep jet way that led from the plane's cargo hold to the soft grass of the farm. "Be careful, all right?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "The doctors said I'm fine, Pietro."

"Yes, but they told you to watch yourself for at least another few weeks. "

"You worry too much."

"Only when I need to."

She headed down the ramp, but Pietro could see that she was smiling.

Outside, the sun had just risen. The farm was covered in a thin layer of dew and smelled like freshly mown grass. Soft yellow sunlight gave everything a golden tinge, like something out of one of the fairy tales his mother used to read to him when he was a small child. Things almost seemed…magical this early in the morning. It seemed like nothing had changed. Everything was exactly how it had been the last time he'd been here, three weeks ago. The house and barn were in the same place, the fields were still lush and green, and he could even see the same bales of hay piled in the silo.

"Admiring the view?" Clint asked as he handed Pietro his suitcase-also new.

"Yes. It's beautiful. You must love it here."

"I do. The farm is great year round-but especially in early summer, where everything is coming to life. Lila found a bird nest under the eaves. She's ecstatic-now she can watch the baby birds as long as she doesn't get too close."

Pietro laughed. "What kind of birds are they?"

"Robins. They just hatched a few days ago. We kept a few of the eggshells. They're sky blue; Nathaniel loves playing with them. Speaking of which..." He waved Wanda over from where she'd been examining a rusted weather vane. "I may have forgotten to mention to my family that you were coming. I thought you'd want to surprise them. Laura knows, of course, but the kids have been kept in the dark."

"So we're going to surprise them?"

"Yes. I hope you don't mind. They're going to be so excited to see you."

"I think I can handle that. What about you, Wanda?"

"Of course." she replied, sending the weather vane spinning with a light touch. "I'm assuming you have a plan?"

Clint nodded. "I'll go in first and then call in the two of you. Wait for my signal, okay?" He started to walk across the worn gravel path that led to the small farmhouse. It looked incredibly tiny from this far away; it was impossible to think that it could host nine people if need be.

After a while, the twins followed him. They passed a trellis filled with sprawling clematis blooms and Pietro carefully cut one away using his Swiss army knife. He carefully placed it in Wanda's hair; the purple flower provided a nice contrast to her brown locks. "How's that?"

She touched it absentmindedly. "It's beautiful. Thank you. I think I'll take a few more for Lila. Maybe I can make her a crown…" She rummaged around in her bag until she found a needle and thread. She began to stitch as they went along, concentrating wholly on her project. Pietro worried her own flower would fall out, but it seemed to be holding its own.

Clint stopped at the low fence that surrounded the house and waited for them impatiently. "Come on, guys. What's taking so long?"

"Wanda is making a flower crown for Lila." Pietro replied.

"Well, you don't need to walk that slowly. Come on, Pietro. You have super speed for heaven's sake!"

"Almost finished…" Wanda tied off the last flower with a bit of string and admired her handiwork. "It's a little lopsided, don't you think?"

"Lila will love it." Clint said confidently. "Okay. I'm going to go see if they're up yet. Stay out here until I call you in." With that, he went inside and shut the door behind him.

Sound still drifted out from inside the house. The twins could hear Clint say "Hey guys. I'm home!" followed by running feet on the stairs and the happy yells of excited children.

"Dad, can you help me make a birdhouse today?" Cooper asked. "We can move the baby birds in there once they get big enough."

"Can you have a tea party with me?" Lila cut in. "Mommy says she has a PTA meeting and she can't play with me."

"Of course honey, but why can't you play with Nathaniel?" Clint said.

"He's too little. All he does is sleep, eat, and get his diaper changed."

"Those are all very valid points, but I think I know someone else who might want to have a tea party with you even more than I do." Clint glanced outside. "So, you know how I told you Pietro and Wanda were going back to New York for a while to go to Avengers training?"

Lila nodded. "You said they might come back for my birthday. They can come, right Daddy?"

"Well, I talked to Director Nick Fury about it. We discussed what would be best for the twins and seeing as Wanda is still recovering and probably won't be able to go to training for a few weeks…Pietro, Wanda, do you want to come inside?"

The reaction the twins' arrival got was seismic. Both kids started talking at once and Lila immediately ran to hug Wanda. "My birthday isn't for two months yet!"

"Well, consider this your early birthday present." Wanda handed her the flower crown carefully. "I made this on the walk over here. Do you like it?"

Lila was holding it almost reverently, like it was made out of gold. "It's like a princess crown! I love it! Thank you so much!"

"So, I heard you saying something about wanting to build a bird house." Pietro said, turning to Cooper.

Cooper beamed. "Do you know how to build one?"

"…Not exactly. But I'm sure I can figure it out. Anyway, I can always handle the power saw if you need me to."

"Probably a good idea." Clint said. "I'm not sure I trust Cooper with the heavy machinery."

"Dad!" Cooper protested.

Just then, Laura came downstairs wearing a bathrobe and holding Nathaniel, whose face was still red as if he'd just been crying. "Hi Clint. How was the trip over?"

"Not too bad. A little bumpy, but I didn't need to throw up." Clint gestured to the other new arrivals. "The others are here."

Laura beamed. "It's lovely to see the two of you again-both alive and well, I trust?"

Pietro nodded. They were in one piece and alive for the first time in a long while. "How have things been on the farm?"

"About the same. The kids helped me plant a vegetable garden."

Lila nodded vigorously. "We planted watermelon. That's my favorite fruit."

"Mine too." Wanda said. There hadn't been enough of it in Sokovia.

Lila grasped her hand and practically pulled her upstairs. "Do you want to see my new Barbie dolls? I got them from my friend, Shanna-she lives on the next farm over…"

Laura yawned and handed Nathaniel to Clint. "He needs a diaper change. How about you handle that while I make the pancakes."

"I suppose that's only fair. Come on, Pietro-I have a surprise for you too." Clint led Pietro and Cooper, who had decided to tag along, into what had once been the dining room. Now it was divided into two separate rooms-a living room with a couch, a few chairs, and a TV; and a small sun porch that had been converted into a spare bedroom-with an actual bed. "I've been meaning to get around to this. Of course, you can always share with Cooper if you want to, but I figured you might want your own place."

"I love it." Pietro said, throwing his backpack onto the bed. The room was small, with a nightstand, a few shelves that were mostly bare, a chest of drawers, and of course the bed; but it felt very cozy and he really enjoyed it.

Clint eyed his suitcase, which it looked like Pietro was preparing to kick into a corner. "You know, Laura is kind of a stickler about cleanliness. It's probably in your best interest to keep the place clean-you know, clothes folded _in drawers_ and that sort of thing."

Pietro smirked and put the suitcase next to his bed so he would remember to unpack after breakfast. "Fine, fine. I can keep the room clean."

"Really? Have you seen your room back at the Tower?"

"Shut up, old man."

"Come on. I thought we'd moved past that."

"We'll never move past that."

Just then, Laura called everyone back to the kitchen for breakfast-except for Clint, who still hadn't changed Nathaniel. Cooper led the way back to the table, beside himself with laughter.

Breakfasts at the Barton household reminded Wanda a lot of breakfasts at Avengers Tower. Everyone talked over each other, the food was doled out based on a first come-first serve basis, and there was plenty of coffee. However, the Bartons had better table manners.

Nathaniel sat in his high chair at one end of the table, laughing as he banged his spoon in his mashed carrots. A few pieces of flying carrots fell on Wanda's shirt, but she laughed as she wiped it up.

"Sorry about that." Laura said, trying to catch Nathaniel's attention. "Nathaniel, we've been over this. We don't bang our silverware like that."

Nathaniel didn't seem to be paying attention. Laura sighed. "You're just like your father."

Clint looked up from a conversation at the other end of the table, where he'd been having a discussion with Cooper and Pietro about baseball. Pietro had never followed baseball in Sokovia; in fact, he still wasn't sure how the game was actually played. Currently, Clint was trying to explain what an inning was. "What, honey?"

She laughed. "Never mind." Nathaniel was banging his spoon again and more carrots splattered onto Wanda's shirt. "I'm so sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. I never really liked this shirt anyway." Wanda examined it carefully. The little bits of baby food had started to stain. "But I think I'll change it just to be sure."

"There's a laundry basket at the top of the stairs. Just toss it in there. I hope you don't need it back right away. In our house laundry never seems to get done in a timely manner."

"Don't worry. When I lived in Sokovia, we only got to wash our clothes if and when we had the money to go to a Laundromat. Other than that we had to wash in the river-and river water always ends up smelling just a little bit like fish."

"Rest assured that we don't use river water here-although sometimes I wonder if anyone would be able to tell the difference."

Wanda was smiling as she went upstairs to the spare bedroom. She'd stayed in it the last time she was in the Barton house, and it really hadn't changed much-except for a picture on the windowsill that hadn't been there before. There were a few family photos-one of the family at one of Cooper's soccer games-Cooper was holding a trophy that was bigger than he was-a picture of Lila's dance recital, and a picture of the family somewhere that looked suspiciously like Hawaii. And finally, next to all those pictures was a picture taken the last time the twins had been at the farm. Pietro was holding Nathaniel as he watched a movie with Cooper and Wanda was reading a book to Lila. On a small piece of stationary underneath the frame, the words Welcome Back had been written in Laura's careful and precise penmanship. Wanda couldn't help feeling touched.

She pulled open the window and leaned outside, into the morning air. It was still quite early; about 8:15, but the world outside was clearly alive. Birds sang in their nests and a light wind rustled through the fields. Once again, Wanda was struck by the feeling that this would be a lovely place to grow up-being able to roam those fields at will, play hide and seek in the haylofts, make daisy chains, go swimming in the swimming hole just out of sight behind a grove of trees, and play in the treehouse Clint had built for the kids to use. It was three rooms and quite clean-especially for a treehouse. Lila had already made plans to have a sleepover inside of it one day.

Most importantly, this was a place where a family could be together. This was a place where you could feel cared for.

This was a place that felt like home.

Just then, there was a soft knock on the door and Pietro came inside. "How long does it take you to change a shirt? Lila has been asking about you."

"I was just…looking outside. Isn't this a beautiful place?"

Pietro nodded. "I love it here. It feels almost like-"

"Our home. In Sokovia. I was just thinking that."

"Yes. I suppose it does. This is going to be a great week, don't you think?"

"It definitely will."

"I'll race you downstairs!"

"Pietro that's not fair in any sense of the-" _And he's gone._

Wanda had time to think a little bit more as she made her way downstairs. By now Pietro had probably eaten the rest of her breakfast; she would have to find a way to get him back…maybe by putting some temporary hair dye in his shampoo bottle. He would hate that…

Whatever prank she eventually decided to pull, she knew that this was going to be a great week.

Maybe even the best of her life.

 **I'm also accepting prompts! Leave one in a review if you're interested.**

 **Thanks for reading! Review, follow, and favorite!**


	2. Babysitting

**Thanks for the support and reviews! I'm so glad you like the story :)**

 **The next chapter is an idea my friends and I came up with a couple weeks ago. Basically, Clint and Laura want to go out for a romantic date night and the twins get to look after Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel. Inevitably, chaos ensues.**

 **Also, I'd like to thank everyone who sent in prompts. I'm setting up a schedule for the next few chapters and your ideas have been factored in. Keep the great ideas coming!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Well, that's all from me. Enjoy!**

Wanda's favorite time of day had always been the early morning. Everything was so peaceful-birds sang quietly in the trees, a tractor trundled sleepily through the fields, and the air smelled clean and fresh instead of stinking of exhaust. It was like she got a clean slate every day, and a fresh start. And at seven in the morning, she hadn't exactly had time to mess anything up yet. She yawned and stretched luxuriously. Her mattress was so comfortable; the whole room smelled like lavender and rosewater. She wouldn't mind not getting up at all today…

"WANDA MARYA MAXIMOFF! GET OUT HERE!"

She sighed and climbed out of bed, opening the window again. Pietro was standing in front of her window. His hair was mussed from sleep and he wasn't wearing any shoes. "What is it?" she asked sweetly.

"Why are my new shoes on top of the barn?"

"What do you mean?" She pretended to be confused, although she was just trying to stifle her giggles. Pietro had stolen pancakes; he had to pay the price.

His pair of brand new Adidas running shoes were on the highest part of the barn's roof, sitting casually. They were just out of Pietro's reach-by about ten feet. "My shoes. How did they get up there?"

"Well, if I'm remembering correctly, someone stole pancakes off my plate yesterday. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

"Nope. Sorry. I don't know anything about a few missing pancakes. You must have me confused with someone else."

"Okay then. I guess I don't know anything about those shoes-and since I don't know anything about them, I can't exactly levitate them down to you."

Pietro rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry about the pancakes. Are you satisfied?"

"Not exactly."

"What else do you expect me to do? I apologized."

"Yes, but you didn't make me some new ones."

"You can't possibly be serious-"

"Make some more pancakes, Pietro-just try not to burn the house down."

"Then will you get my shoes back down?"

"Yes."

"You'll have to do better than that. Do you promise you'll get my shoes down, no matter what?"

"Yes, I promise. Now go make those pancakes! I'm hungry."

He threw up his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine! I'm going! See? I'll be back in half an hour with the pancakes-and then you'll give me my shoes."

"Glad to know that we're on the same page."

~IT~

"Why are you up this early?"

Wanda looked up from her magazine as Laura walked in. She was holding Nathaniel and trying to bottle feed him. Nathaniel was having none of it. "I don't know. The birds woke me up, I guess."

"The same thing always happens to me. Every day, without fail, they chirp loud enough to wake the dead. Anyway, why is Pietro trying to make pancakes in my kitchen?"

"He pulled a prank on me." She pointed to the shoes on the barn. "I suppose I should have asked if it was okay first. I apologize."

"No need. It's a clever idea. Anyway, I was just wondering if the two of you would be interested in watching the kids for the night. Clint and I haven't been able to get some time to ourselves for a long time and a new restaurant just opened in town that we've been dying to try. We might go to see a movie afterwards; nothing extreme, just a few hours. You wouldn't need to do much with the kids-maybe watch a movie and put them to bed. You'd get paid too-how does ten dollars an hour sound?"

Wanda was shocked. She'd never worked for money-even the HYDRA experiments had never been for profit. She was still basically living on welfare with the Avengers…she couldn't understand why someone would want to pay her, especially just for watching some children for a couple of hours.

Laura smiled. "Did you say you wanted a raise? I suppose we can do that after what happened in Sokovia. How about twelve dollars an hour?"

"That…that's wonderful. Thank you."

"So you'll take the job? They're great kids. They won't be any trouble."

"I know. And…yeah. We'll take the job. We'd be honored."

Just then, Pietro came in and placed a plate of pancakes at the foot of the bed. "Here you go, Wanda." They actually looked surprisingly appetizing. "I get my shoes now, right?"

Laura laughed and turned to go downstairs. "I better make sure Cooper isn't watching TV all morning. Thanks so much, guys."

"What was that about?" Pietro asked, watching as Wanda carefully sampled one of the pancakes.

"Laura and Clint want us to babysit the kids for a few hours tonight. I told her we'd do it. They're paying us twelve dollars an hour, Pietro! Twelve dollars!"

"That's almost one hundred dollars total if we watch the kids for four hours." That was more money than Pietro had ever had in his life. "Have we ever babysat before?"

"No. How hard can it be?"

"Are you sure you know what you're getting us into?"

"Of course. It'll be easy, Pietro. You'll see." She finished the pancakes and casually flicked her hand. "Your shoes are off the barn roof."

"Great! Where are they now?"

"Somewhere in the hayloft. I suggest you go find them before Cooper does."

Pietro rolled his eyes as he left to retrieve the shoes. The hayloft was currently filled with hay; he wouldn't have an easy time. "Truce?"

"Truce. Those were good pancakes. Where did you learn to cook like that?"

His face reddened. "I use to help Mother make dinner while you were at the library. It was actually kind of fun."

"You certainly have a gift for it."

"Thanks." He sighed in annoyance. "Well, I suppose I'll go search for those shoes now. In the hayloft. With all the bales of hay."

"Have fun. Here." She handed him a pocket flashlight that she'd bought on their shopping spree. "You'll need this."

"You're so considerate."

~IT~

"There are extra diapers and wipes in the pantry. Cooper is allowed to stay up until ten, but be sure the TV is turned off by nine thirty. Lila usually goes to bed around nine. Nathaniel is a pretty easy sleeper; if he won't settle down, try rocking him. There's first aid stuff in the living room. Both Cooper and Lila know where everything is if you can't find something for some reason. All the important numbers are on the refrigerator door-fire, police, poison control, FBI, NSA, my cell, Clint's cell, and the Hammonds' number. They live on the next farm. Go there if you have any problems. The bunker's password is cooperlilanathaniel, no capital letters and no spaces. I'd prefer it if you don't go outside just in case. The security system will tell you if anyone unidentified comes onto the property. If that happens, call us and take the kids to the bunker. We can't be too safe, just in case of-"

"Laura, calm down. You're going to scare them." Clint said patiently. He had the front door open, letting in a draft of warm air. "They'll be fine." He waved to Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel, who were all playing with Legos. "Have a fun time, guys. Listen to Wanda and Pietro. While we're gone, they're in charge-and their word is law. Got it?"

Cooper and Lila nodded vigorously. "Got it, Dad." Cooper called.

"Thanks so much, guys." Laura said, frantically making sure everything was in order. "If you have any questions, any at all, don't hesitate to call. We'll be back somewhere between eleven and midnight. We've already eaten, so you don't need to worry about that…do the two of you have any questions?"

Pietro and Wanda exchanged a glance. _Information Overload._ "I think we can figure it out." Pietro said. "Have a good time."

"Thanks. You too." Laura finally left, just when Pietro was beginning to think his head would explode if he had to memorize one more worst case scenario. He was still a little nervous, as he'd never been on a babysitting job before. But it was just for Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel. How hard could it be?

"Can I have ice cream?" Lila asked, taking a break from carefully constructing her Lego house.

"No. We just ate."

"Please? Just a little bit?"

"No."

"Pleeeeeeease?"

"No."

"You're no fun. Can I have cookies?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Again: we just ate." Pietro decided to try and distract her. "What kind of house are you making?"

Lila looked at him as though he was extremely stupid. "Our house. See, there's your room and there's the living room and there's my room and there's Wanda's room and there's Nathaniel's room."

"So I don't get a bedroom?" Cooper asked. He seemed to be building some kind of a truck.

"No. You get to sleep on the floor."

"That doesn't sound comfortable." Pietro said.

"This is our truck." Cooper held up his creation, which was now filled with little Lego chickens. "We're chicken farmers."

"No Cooper!" Lila protested. "I don't like chickens! And besides, this is our car!" She pulled out a hot pink Barbie convertible.

"No, we have a truck!"

"There can be two cars." Pietro said quickly, hoping the argument wouldn't escalate.

Just then, Nathaniel started to cry and the twins froze. They could handle young children, but they knew next to nothing about crying babies. Luckily, Lila examined her younger brother with a knowledgeable eye. "He needs to get his diaper changed."

"Not it." Pietro wasn't taking any chances."

Wanda groaned. "I don't even know how to change a diaper!"

"Look it up! It can't be that hard."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to be okay watching Cooper and Lila for a little bit?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Wanda, I'll be okay." Whatever he had to do was better than changing a diaper.

Gently, Wanda picked up Nathaniel and went into his bedroom, where there was a fully stocked changing table. That left Pietro with Cooper and Lila-who were both intent on making him work for his money.

"Can we ride dirt bikes down the road?" Cooper asked.

"That sounds dangerous." Pietro said.

"Dad lets us do it all the time."

"Your dad isn't here right now. Your mom said we shouldn't go outside."

"We won't tell. We're good at keeping secrets."

"No, Cooper. No dirt bikes."

He sighed heavily. "Fine."

Lila jumped up in a rush, her Legos forgotten. "Pietro, let's play hide and seek!"

"What's that?" Pietro was pretty sure he'd never played hide and seek back in Sokovia.

"One person hides and then the other person counts and tries to find the person that's hiding. I'm really good at it."

"…Okay. I suppose we can play this 'hide and seek'. Just stay in the house."

"Okay. You can count first." She ran off. Pietro could hear her footsteps pounding up the stairs. For a couple seconds, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, until he decided he should try to follow her.

As soon as he got upstairs, Lila came out of her bedroom and glared at him. "You didn't count." she said accusingly.

"I thought you were supposed to-"

Lila sighed in a perfect imitation of her mother. "You didn't learn anything in Sokovia, did you? Let's try this again…"

~IT~

Hide and seek was outlawed after Lila hid in the laundry basket and scared the living daylights out of Pietro when he walked by.

Pietro was beginning to get worried, as Wanda and Nathaniel had been in the changing room for almost thirty minutes. "Is everything going okay in here?" he asked, gently opening the door.

Wanda was looking very carefully at a diagram on her phone. "Almost…got it…there!" She stood back to admire her handiwork. "What do you think?"

Pietro examined the diaper carefully. "I think it's backwards."

"No it's not."

"Wanda, I'm pretty sure it's backwards."

"Why does it look exactly like the picture on the phone?"

"Trust me. It's backwards."

"I'm going to call Cooper." She went back into the living room, where Lila and Cooper were building Legos again. "Cooper? Could you come here for a second please?"

"Sure." Cooper followed her into the changing room. "What do you need?"

"Is Nathaniel's diaper backwards?"

He looked at it appraisingly and nodded. "Yeah. It's backwards. Can I go play Legos now?"

"Sure." As he ran off, Wanda started to take off the diaper. "Not a word, Pietro."

~IT~

Ten minutes later, Wanda was finished with the new diaper. She called Cooper in again, while Pietro watched with interest. "Is the diaper facing the right way now?"

"No." Cooper said. "It's backwards. Sorry. You had it right the first time."

Wanda looked like she wanted to hex someone into oblivion-and Pietro was pretty sure he was directly in the line of fire. "Come on, Cooper. Show me what you've built while Wanda finishes up in here."

~IT~

They managed to get through the rest of the night without any more drama-at least until bedtime.

"Good night, Lila." Wanda said, making sure the little girl was tucked in securely and not in danger of suffocation due to her mountain of stuffed animals.

"Good night." Lila hugged her tightly. "You're a nice babysitter. Can you tell Pietro not to ban hide and seek anymore? Scaring people is the best part of the entire game."

"I'll talk to him about it, okay?" Pietro had been telling her hide and seek horror stories for the past twenty minutes-including one tight squeeze involving the furnace and a pair of scissors. _See, Pietro? This is why we can't have nice things._

"Okay. I wish you didn't have to go back to New York, Wanda. I wish you could stay here and be my sister forever and ever and ever."

"Me too, Lila. I've always wanted a little sister. Sweet dreams." She kept the door open a little bit, just in case. She wished she could go to sleep as well; little kids really took it out of her.

Cooper went to bed around ten, right on schedule. Once that happened, the twins were finally able to relax onto the couch. "I'm so tired." Wanda muttered. She was still upset about the whole diaper fiasco.

Pietro worked a tangle out of her hair gently. "So am I. Well, I think we did okay for our first time babysitting. What do you think?"

"Yeah. I think so-"

Just then, Nathaniel started crying. And not just crying. Screaming.

"Not it." Wanda said automatically.

Lila stood at the top of the stairs. "Nathaniel is crying. He woke me up."

Wanda went to put the kids back to bed while Pietro was tasked with calming down Nathaniel.

"Can you tell me a story?" Lila asked.

"Sure-but just a short one. What do you want it to be about?"

"Can it be about Princess Rainbow Unicorn, who lives in a castle made of clouds and drives a chariot pulled by winged horses?"

"Sure." Wanda told the story as quickly as she could; it was getting late and Nathaniel was still screaming. She was midway through the tale when one of Nathaniel's particularly loud wails completely stopped her train of though. "I'll be right back."

She went back to Nathaniel's room, where Pietro was trying to calm him down. He was holding the baby as if he were a bomb that could go off at any moment. "It's not working, Wanda." Pietro sounded almost panicked.

Wanda sighed and took the baby from him. "Try treating him like you're not afraid of him." Gently, she rocked the baby back and forth evenly. Nathaniel's wails dwindled until they were just small cries and eventually stopped altogether. "See? You try."

Pietro had a little more luck after that. Wanda still had to stay with him to make sure he was doing things right, but finally Nathaniel settled down and went to sleep. Then Wanda realized she'd completely forgotten about Princess Rainbow Unicorn.

"I forgot about Lila…" She practically flew down the hallway and opened Lila's door as silently as she could. The little girl was fast asleep, one arm wrapped around an enormous teddy bear bigger than she was. Wanda had to smile. She looked so peaceful, almost angelic. "We'll finish the story tomorrow." She left the window open just slightly, to tempt a nonexistent breeze.

Pietro was waiting for her in the hallway. "Is Lila asleep?"

"Yes. Is Cooper?"

"Of course. Do you want to see what's on TV?"

She nodded and followed him into the living room. "I'm proud of you, Pietro."

"You too. I didn't know you were that good with babies."

"How about we switch jobs-next time I'll get Nathaniel to sleep and you can change diapers."

"Don't push your luck."

As they watched the only thing that was on, a nature documentary about the oceans that was probably shown at schools to get kindergarteners to sleep at naptime, she kept thinking she was going to nod off. Occasionally she would have to pinch herself to make sure she was still awake.

Finally, Clint and Laura came home around eleven thirty. "How was it?" Laura asked. Wanda hoped she and Pietro didn't look like they'd been abducted by aliens, dropped in the middle of Russia, and had to catch the very last flight to America.

The siblings exchanged a glance. "It was…it was interesting." Pietro said finally.

"Are the kids asleep?"

"Yes. How was your movie?"

"Pretty good. What did you think, Clint?"

"Same." Clint handed each of the siblings a crisp fifty dollar bill. "There happens to be another one coming out in a few weeks that I was hoping to see…if the two of you are interested in watching the kids again, we'd be much obliged…"

"Give us time to sleep on it."

Clint smirked. "That bad, huh?"

"No, it's just that-"

"I'm just kidding. Take a little time to recharge. It looks like the house is still in one piece. That's better than I was expecting."

"Clint." Laura protested. "They did great. Now, I think they'd better get some sleep before they fall asleep standing up. Thanks so much, guys."

"Anytime." Pietro said, trying to stifle a yawn. And he meant it-although babysitting hadn't been nearly as easy as he'd thought it would be, it hadn't actually been that bad. He would definitely do it again, once he'd had time to get his energy back.

As long as he didn't have to change any diapers.

 **Thanks for reading! Review, follow, and favorite!**


	3. How not to fix a tractor

**For once, I don't really have a lot to say. I'm glad you like the story, I love reading reviews et cetera et cetera…but you guys already know that. If you'd told me two months ago that I'd be writing Avengers fanfictions, I probably wouldn't have believed you-but here I am, on my third full length story! Of course, then Age of Ultron broke my heart. I still am not over it. I will never be over it. That's why it's fun to write fluff :) Let me know if I'm updating too frequently. I think I'm going to try to shoot for every day to two days, but I don't know if that's too often.**

 **And now I've almost written an entire paragraph. Sorry about that.**

 **This story is based on a prompt I received from Niom Lamboise.**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

 **Enjoy!**

Pietro sneezed as a piece of hay landed on his nose. He thought he was growing allergic to the yellow stuff, especially since every time he spent more than five minutes in the hayloft his eyes started to water and he began to sneeze-a lot. Laura had suggested that maybe he'd always had the allergy; he just hadn't been around straw enough for it to develop. He supposed that was plausible too. He was a city kid, born and bred; he knew the city streets a lot better than he knew the comfortable life style he now enjoyed in Avengers Tower and the new base. He had his own room for once. That was a luxury he still wasn't quite used to.

"Are you okay?" Wanda asked. She was fiddling around with a few pieces of straw while she helped Lila with her workbook. Cooper and Lila both had them; every day, Laura made them do a page or two-to varying degrees of success. It could sometimes be a hassle to get the kids to focus-especially Lila.

He nodded, wiping his eyes. They had begun to water-again. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You look like you've been crying."

"Well, I'm certainly not crying. It's allergies or something. I don't know."

"Maybe you should get a little fresh air…here, I'll come with." She ruffled Lila's hair to get her attention. The little girl was sprawled half on and half off a pile of hay, working her multiplication tables diligently. "Do you want to come outside with us?"

"Sure!" Lila said happily, closing her workbook with a loud snap. "What are you guys doing?"

"Pietro is allergic to the hay in the hayloft."

"What does 'allergic' mean?"

"It means his eyes get all watery and he sneezes a lot. It's not dangerous for him, but it's uncomfortable-and it's better if he stays outside."

Pietro tried to protest but everyone was already moving pens, flash cards, and pads of paper outside into the late afternoon sunlight. Of course, he had no choice but to follow-although he had to admit that the cool air felt nice compared to the stifling heat of the hay barn.

Cooper had finished his homework long ago and was shooting hoops on a small court around the corner of the house. Pietro could hear the rhythmic bounce the ball made as it hit the gravel. _Bounce,_ one two dribble dribble _bounce…_ three four dribble dribble crossover _bounce._ "Cooper likes to play basketball, doesn't he?"

Lila nodded, not looking up from her workbook. "Sometimes Daddy plays with him after dinner. They might be outside for hours, just shooting hoops. I don't see what's so fun about it. It's just bouncing a ball around. I get bored when I play with them."

Pietro had played a little bit of basketball in Sokovia. There had been a team in his primary school, but that was as far as his expertise extended. Sure, he could shoot a basket-but only if the court was clear and free of obstruction.

"I don't like basketball either." Wanda said, brushing a stray strand of brown hair out of her eyes. Wanda had always been more into books than sports-it was one of the only things she and Pietro held different opinions on.

"Yeah. What's this word say?" Lila shifted the workbook so Wanda would be able to see.

"Create. It means to make something-like a dollhouse."

"Okay. Thanks." Lila went back to scribbling in her book, sounding out words carefully.

Just then, Cooper came over to them. He was bouncing the basketball from hand to hand-he quickly threw it to Pietro, who caught it on reflex. "Do you want to play? Dad's busy."

"What's he doing?" Pietro asked, dribbling the ball experimentally.

"Trying to fix the tractor. It broke down again."

"I thought you said that Tony fixed it."

"That's what Dad said. He's going to write Tony a very angry letter and tell him what exactly he thinks of his engineering skills."

Pietro smirked. He couldn't wait to see how that would go down. He knew for a fact that Tony took a lot of pride in his engineering skills. "He should tell Mr. Stark to stop making evil robots."

"What about the Vision? Dad thinks he's good."

"For now." Pietro didn't trust Vision, even though the android had given him no reason to doubt his intentions. He was artificial intelligence, just like Ultron. In fact, he had been created to be Ultron 2.0. Sure, he was on their side-but for how long? What if his original programming kicked in and he went bad? There were just too many variables where he was concerned-and too many things that couldn't be controlled.

Besides, Wanda actually _trusted_ him. He kept having to remind her that the one time she'd looked into his mind she'd seen Armageddon. That had to be some kind of omen.

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Stop that, Pietro."

"No, I'm serious. He's just a copy of Ultron. You know that, right?"

"He's good. He is on our side. In fact, he invited me out for coffee with him sometime."

"WHAT?"

"Did I forget to tell you?" She obviously wasn't sorry.

"When is this secret coffee rendezvous occurring?"

"Like I would tell you. You'd probably stalk us from the bushes or something."

Pietro had been thinking more along the lines of potted plant. "Why would you say that?"

"Remember that one time I went out to dinner with that one boy-"

"Oh, that punk. What was his name again?"

"Aaron. And he was not a punk-he was actually very sweet."

"Until he went all psychotic, said you would be the death of us all, and tried to kill you in the alleyway outside the restaurant."

"He was acting. His gang didn't want us socializing. And he wasn't trying to kill me. He was just showing me his new Swiss army knife. You certainly didn't need to come sweeping in like…I don't know, a hawk or something and tear out his-" Just then, she noticed that Lila was no longer looking at her workbook now that the conversation had turned to something more interesting than allergies. "We'll discuss this later. And make no mistake; we _will_ be discussing it."

Pietro turned back to Cooper. "Does Clint know how to fix a tractor?"

"I don't know. He likes to fix things around the house-or at least try to. One time, I got a Matchbox car stuck in the rinse cycle and he tried to fix the washing machine. We weren't able to use it for a week and we had to ask a professional to come in and fix it."

The twins exchanged a glance. "Let's check on him and make sure he knows what he's doing." Pietro said, leading the way to the barn.

Clint was seated on a large green tractor, looking at what seemed to be a control panel. He had a book open at his feet-Pietro saw that its title happened to be Tractor Repair for the Inexperienced Beginner. If Clint had been using it for reference at some point, he had long since changed his mind-the book seemed to be a suggestion instead of a necessity. He looked up when he saw them and waved cheerfully. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"We're just making sure you don't get yourself killed." Pietro said.

"Why would you think I might be in danger of killing myself? I'm completely qualified to be fixing tractors."

"Have you ever fixed one before?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I have. It turned out the back fender was dented-and I replaced it without losing any appendages. Cooper saw me do it." Cooper nodded happily.

"Yes, but there is a big difference between replacing a broken fender and getting a tractor to start. Are you sure you don't need help?" Wanda asked. "I can see if I can get it to-"

"No, I've got this. Remember what we said? No magic except in emergencies? I don't think a broken down tractor counts as an emergency."

"It seems as if it may be going in that direction."

"You all worry too much. Here, you know what? You can stay here and watch me fix the tractor. Nothing is going to go wrong. I promise."

"All right. I think we'll do just that." The kids settled back to watch Clint work. "You know, Pietro and I learned how to hotwire cars while we were in Sokovia, if you need-"

Cooper looked up at the twins with wide eyes. "You can hotwire a car?"

"Don't give him any ideas!" Clint said as he pulled out a random wire. "I wonder what this does…" He touched the wire to the dashboard. It sparked and the tractor's engine turned over futilely before it stopped again. "See? Progress. I can handle this."

They watched in silence for a little while. Eventually, Clint seemed to come to the conclusion that nothing was wrong with the control panel and went to go look at the wheels. He crouched down so he could look at the underside of the tractor, running a hand over the smooth green metal. "Not long now. Sooner or later, I'll find the problem."

"You know, that book on tractor repair could be helpful." Pietro said.

"Oh, that old thing. It was Laura's idea. Somehow, she thinks I can't be trusted with machinery. I'm a grown adult. I think I know how to handle myself around large machines. I'm a farm kid, you know. Born and raised on one in upstate New York-kind of near the new facility, actually."

"Hey, Dad, can I help fix the tractor?" Cooper asked. "We learned all about machines in school. Are you sure you filled the fuel tank?"

"Yes, Cooper. I'm sure the fuel tank isn't the problem. That only happened once. And I want you to stay there where Wanda and Pietro can keep an eye on you. Fixing a tractor can be a risky business, and not everyone is as accomplished at it as I am-"

Just then, the wires that Clint had pulled out of the dashboard sparked alarmingly and the tractor began to roll backward-with Clint still underneath it. Immediately, the twins sprang into action. Pietro made sure Clint was out of the way using his super speed while Wanda sent red magic deep into the gears and machinery that made the tractor move and stopped it all. As abruptly as everything had started, the tractor came to a screeching halt that hurt Pietro's ears.

"Are you okay Dad?" Cooper cried, looking at the tractor worriedly.

"Yeah, fine." Clint was examining a few scratches on his hand-they were rather deep, but looked otherwise benign. "Everyone else all right?"

Pietro nodded, still looking at the tractor distrustfully. "I think it's time you get a new tractor."

"But this one has been in the family for generations! It's a-"

"Hazard to your health." Pietro lowered his voice a couple of notches. "Forget Sokovia. You could have died because you were run over by a tractor."

Wanda had climbed up on top of the tractor so she could examine the controls. "They look fine. I doubt the tractor is going to do something like that again, but just to be safe…" She severed all the wires with one quick sideways motion.

"I'm going to guess that action was irreversible." Clint said wearily.

"You guessed correctly."

Just then, Laura came in looking annoyed. "Where have you guys been? I've been calling you for dinner for almost fifteen minutes!" She surveyed the small group and immediately looked suspicious. "Why do you all look so guilty?"

"There was a little…incident regarding the tractor. I think you'll need a new one." Wanda dropped the handful of cut wires almost apologetically.

"That's fine. We could use a new one. This one's practically antique. But explain more about what this…incident was."

Clint laughed nervously. "Not much. I almost got run over by a tractor, but you know it's no big deal really. I'm fine now-"

"You almost got run over by a TRACTOR?"

"Yes, but we got it stopped in time. There's no danger. I promise."

Lila tugged on Laura's skirt to get her mother's attention. "Wanda and Pietro said that they can hotwire cars. Maybe we should let them fix the tractor."

Laura glanced from Lila to the twins and back again before she finally gave up altogether and shook her head. "Fine. You know what? Fine. Nothing surprises me anymore."

"I would advise against letting us near the tractor." Pietro said wisely. "Just because we can hotwire cars doesn't me we can automatically fix a tractor."

Laura nodded. "Well, that's it. I'll call the scrapyard in the morning-"

"Come on, Laura. Can't we just-"

"Clint."

"Right, right. Sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Now that we've averted a crisis, I think it's time we get some dinner. Who's hungry?" She led the way to the kitchen, with Cooper and Lila following on her heels like excited puppies.

Clint and the twins waited a few minutes before they followed them back to the house. "I guess I should probably thank you." Clint said quietly. It was obvious he didn't relish the idea of having to thank them-probably because Pietro seemed to be getting entirely too much joy out of the entire thing.

"I think you probably should." Pietro replied at the same time Wanda said "Don't worry about it."

Clint laughed. "I owe you one. Just don't hold it over my head."

"Much." Pietro added.

"Will I be seeing you on the basketball court after dinner? I want to even the score."

"Only if you're prepared to lose."

Wanda rolled her eyes. _Boys._

And with that they entered the warm kitchen and left the broken tractor behind them-although Wanda knew Pietro wouldn't be forgetting it anytime soon.

It was nice to know that just because their powers had been created for an inherently evil purpose, they could still be used for forces of good.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	4. How to Bake Cookies

**New chapter! Enjoy!**

 **This chapter is based on a prompt from shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod.**

 **Disclaimer: see chapter 1.**

"Can you show me how to hotwire a car?"

"Let me think about it…No."

Cooper hung his head in disappointment. "Please?"

"No. You don't need to learn that skill just yet."

"I promise I won't ever use it. It's just a useful skill to know."

"Cooper, I am not going to show you how to hotwire a car. That would end badly for us all."

"You're no fun."

"No, I'm just trying to keep the world safe. If you know how to hotwire a car, we could all be in very real danger." Pietro smiled as he managed to coax a laugh out of the younger boy. "See? It's for world safety. Is that all right?"

"I suppose-if the safety of the world is at stake. Hey, can I show you my dirt bike later?"

"Sure-maybe when it cools down a little bit." It was an extremely hot day outside. The air hung thick with moisture. It was too warm for them to do anything outside-even walk the half mile to the swimming hole Clint had built a few summers ago. They had been cooped up inside all day and everyone was starting to go a little crazy-especially Pietro. He absolutely detested sitting still.

Lila ran downstairs, holding a big box of wooden blocks. "Let's build a really big tower!" She set about arranging the blocks into columns and rows, stacking them by size and shape. "Cooper, do you want to help?"

"Sure." Cooper sat down next to her and examined the blocks carefully. "We need a strong base…" As the others looked on he began to strategically construct the tower, building it taller and taller until the little kids could no longer reach it. "Pietro, can you help us put more blocks up there?"

"Of course." Pietro put the wooden blocks where they directed him to. Every so often, the tower would begin to swing alarmingly and the whole thing would seem to be in danger of crashing to the ground. When that happened, Lila was there to add extra support at the base. After a while, it became too high for even Pietro to reach. However, there were still more blocks left.

Cooper tried to recruit Wanda next. "Can you use your telekinesis to finish the tower?" He'd just learned the word the previous night and he loved dropping it into everyday conversation.

"I don't know. Your parents don't want me to use my powers inside the house…"

"It's just for building a block tower. We only have…eight blocks left. That's all."

"Please Wanda?" Lila asked. She looked like she was gearing up to bring out the puppy eyes.

Wanda sighed. "Fine." Carefully, she guided each block into place until there was only one block left-a little wooden star that Cooper insisted would crown their creation. By now, the tower was beginning to teeter and waver alarmingly. It took all the focus and concentration she had to levitate the star and place it precariously at the top of the structure.

Cooper and Lila celebrated the completion of their tower. Of course, Lila ran to get her camera so she could take a picture to show Shanna. As soon as she left, the tower dipped to one side and then fell apart with a thunderous crash. Blocks spilled everywhere-under the coffee table, behind the couch, even on the windowsills. Cooper, Pietro, and Wanda scrambled to pick them all up.

Laura came in looking worried. "What just happened in here? Should I be worried?"

"We were building a tower." Cooper explained. "But then it fell. It was huge though. It went all the way to the ceiling and we used all the blocks."

"That's great-just be sure everything gets picked up. Those blocks wreak havoc with my vacuum cleaner. When you're finished, come into the kitchen. I have something that's a little more constructive for you to help me with." She left them so they could finish cleaning.

Just then, Lila came sprinting back in with her camera. "Wait-where'd the tower go?"

"It fell." Cooper said simply. "Help us clean it up."

"Aw. I wanted to show Shanna."

"You'll be able to build it again. Maybe you and Shanna can make a tower that's even bigger than this one was." Pietro suggested.

"I don't think so. We built the biggest tower ever!"

~IT~

Twenty minutes later they reassembled in the kitchen. The blocks had been counted and recounted; they were all there.

Laura was pulling out ingredients and lining them up on the counter-flour, sugar, eggs, and chocolate chips. "I just got a call from Shanna's mother. Apparently, Shanna has the stomach flu and she's not feeling too good right now."

"She'll get better, won't she?" Lila asked in concern.

"Of course, but for the next few days she'll be pretty sick. So I thought we'd make her a get well present. Does anyone know how to make cookies?"

No one did.

"Okay then." Laura said. "We'll start with the basics."

~IT~

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wanda took care of that while the others gathered the rest of the ingredients they would need: butter, brown and white sugar, vanilla extract, baking soda, hot water, and salt. Then they got to the business of measuring things out. It could have gone better; Lila insisted on cracking one of the eggs and got a bunch of eggshells in with the yolk. Pietro had to spend about fifteen minutes digging them all out. Every time he thought he was finished, he always found one or two eggshells he'd missed without realizing it. Cooper accidentally measured the sugar wrong and the small granules got everywhere. Laura told him not to worry about it-she'd been meaning to wash the floors for a while anyway. Finally, all their ingredients were correctly measured and separated correctly. They were ready to proceed to step two.

Step 2. Cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.

Laura took care of this part. Lila was in charge of checking to see whether or not the batter was smooth. She took this job very seriously-maybe even a little too seriously.

Step 3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.

Pietro decided to try beating in the eggs. It went well for about five minutes-until he almost lost control of the beaters. The batter looked to be in danger of going anywhere but in the bowl-however, he managed to get a handle on it just in time. Cooper got to stir in the vanilla.

Step 4. Dissolve baking soda in hot water and add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour and chocolate chips.

Wanda and Lila took care of that. Surprisingly, it went off without a hitch.

Step 5. Drop by large spoonfuls onto an ungreased pan.

Everyone wanted to have a turn measuring out the batter, so everyone scooped out five spoonfuls of batter and then rotated. There was a minor discrepancy between the sizes of the cookies-Lila and Cooper's tended to be as big as Pietro's palm while the twins' were a lot smaller. Laura said it didn't matter; they would still taste the same. Pietro tried to remember the last time they'd baked cookies with their parents. He was sure they'd done it before, but it had been a very long time ago…after the first military coup, foods like butter, sugar, and chocolate had become extremely rare. At first they'd been rationed, but after a while there had been a severe shortage.

He remembered his ninth birthday, when his father had used almost all of his month's wages to buy enough ingredients to make a special birthday cake for the twins. He could still taste that cake sometimes if he really concentrated; it was easily the best thing he'd ever eaten.

But fresh chocolate cookies weren't that bad either.

"Can I lick the spoon?" Lila asked once they'd made as many cookies as they possibly could.

"Just a couple licks-you really shouldn't be eating cookie dough." Laura explained.

Lila complied and watched as her mother put the cookies in the oven. "What happens now?"

Step 6. Bake for about ten minutes, until the edges of the cookies have browned nicely.

As soon as the cookies were in the oven, Cooper reached into the bag and pulled out a big handful of flour. "Flour fight!" he cried, throwing the flour at his sister. Lila squealed as she became covered in a layer of white powder.

"Not in the kitchen!" Laura ushered them outside to continue their war.

Cooper was laughing as he took more handfuls of the white powder and threw them in all directions. Some spattered Pietro's shirt, some landed in Wanda's hair.

After a few minutes, Lila charged him and ripped the bag out of his hands, preferring to pelt him with flour instead.

Then it became a full on flour fight-everyone against everyone. The flour bag was placed in the center of the yard so everyone had easy access to it. Everyone was laughing; even the twins had gotten in on the act-and they would be turning eighteen in July.

The game finally ended when Pietro took the last of the flour in the bag and emptied it onto Wanda's head. Everyone was absolutely covered in flour, hot, sweaty, and laughing uncontrollably.

Laura set out the pan of cookies on a covered shelf so they could cool. "No cookies until everyone is washed up." she said. "There's a hose on the other side of the house. No one is coming in this house if they have even a little bit of flour on them."

Well, that made sense. Pietro took charge of the hose and carefully sprayed Cooper and Lila off thoroughly. The flour came off easily; there were a few clothing stains that would have to be washed out later, but all in all it wasn't too bad.

"Your turn, Wanda." he said once the little kids were sitting in the grass obediently. They were clean and refreshingly cool; suddenly the day didn't seem so stiflingly hot. "What did you do to yourself? There's flour all over you."

She rolled her eyes. "Not funny. I'm going to be sneezing this stuff for a week."

Pietro might have turned the hose on just a little bit of a higher level than was strictly necessary. Wanda didn't seem to mind.

Finally she was clean-and shivering. She seemed only too happy to take the hose from Pietro so she could spray him off. "You might want to close your eyes. This is going to be a shock."

Pietro wasn't prepared for the jet of cold water that washed off the rest of the flour. "No kidding. This stuff is cold." He looked around at the yard, which was covered with wet flour. "Wait-the doctors told you no strenuous activity, right?"

"Yeah, but a flour war isn't strenuous."

"Still…you didn't pull anything, did you?"

"I'm fine. Really." Wanda glanced toward the kitchen, where the cookies were now sitting on a plate in the middle of the table tantalizingly. "Come on. Let's go see if those cookies taste as good as they smell."

~IT~

The cookies tasted delicious. Cooper rated them five out of five stars-and so did Clint, when Lila gave him one to try. Pietro was restricted to only three cookies, though he could easily have eaten two more because of his super-fast metabolism. As Laura had said, the cookies were supposed to be for Shanna.

Once everyone had taste tested the cookies and agreed that they were indeed delicious and worthy of consumption, they put about a third of the batch into a small basket wrapped with a gingham checked cloth to be taken over to Shanna's house after dinner.

Pietro and Wanda volunteered to run the cookies over. Pietro's super speed aside, they were excited to meet the neighbors-although not as excited as Pietro was to spend time in the bunker under the farm once he figured out the password.

The night had gotten a lot cooler since the sun had set; in fact, Wanda was almost shivering as they approached the Hammonds' farm. It looked a lot like the Bartons', but it was smaller and smelled of dairy cows.

A young woman with brown hair tied back in a messy ponytail answered the door. "Yes? Can I help you?" she asked tiredly.

"We're Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. We're staying with the Bartons for the next couple of weeks. Actually, we made these for Shanna today-with Cooper and Lila's help, of course." Pietro said as he held out the basket of cookies.

The woman smiled. "How nice of you! My name is Janice Hammond. It's nice to meet you. Here, I'll go get Shanna. She's feeling a lot better-and I'm sure she'll really want to meet you." Janice disappeared inside the house and let the door close behind her. A girl about Lila's age returned a few minutes later. She had dark hair and tired eyes; she had a blanket tied around her neck like a cape. When she saw the twins, her eyes widened. "Are you the superheroes?" she asked in awe, sneezing.

"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly, but…we have powers, yeah." Wanda replied.

"Lila told me about you. Did you guys really help to save the world?"

"Yes we did." _And we almost died because of it._ "We brought you cookies."

Shanna's eyes lit up. "Thank you so much! They look delicious."

"It's from both of us-and the Bartons. Get well soon."

The little girl sneezed. "Thank you. Can I come and see you when I'm better?"

"Of course. That would be great. See you then, Shanna."

"Bye!"

"See you soon." With that, the twins started for home. It was completely dark by now, but they decided to walk just the same.

"She seems like a nice girl." Pietro said after a while of walking in silence.

"Yeah. I see why she and Lila get along so well."

"Those were really good cookies though."

"Yeah. They were delicious."

~IT~

"Laura, why is there flour in the backyard?"

"Don't ask, Clint. Just don't ask."

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chicken Noodle Soup

**Hey everybody! Hope you're all having a great day :)**

 **I'm so glad you enjoy the story! I was so happy to see all the new prompts-I love getting them. If you have any ideas, feel free to send them in. I have a few other ideas planned out, but for a story like this where I need a separate idea for every chapter and I try to update every day to two days I figure it's always good to have more ideas just in case.**

 **This chapter is based on a prompt I got from Niom Lamboise. It was a lot like a chapter I'd wanted to write since the story's inception, so I decided to connect them and write a two parter of sorts. The two parts lead into each other. As for the rest of the prompts I haven't gotten to yet, they will get written-I promise.**

 **I think those are all the new updates. Thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. They absolutely make my day!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

 **Enjoy!**

The next morning, Clint realized the coffee beans were gone. He supposed he should have saw that coming-now he had to share the coffee with Pietro and Wanda, who were almost as addicted to it as he was. In any case, he realized he was going to have to drive into town and get some more. He decided to go early, before he started suffering withdrawal.

"I'm going to the grocery store for more coffee." he told Laura. The nearest store was about forty minutes away; it was a bit of a day trip. "Do you need anything?"

"Why don't you pick up some cough syrup? I think Cooper is coming down with something. Also, I leave for the spa today. Are you and the kids going to be okay while I'm gone?"

"Of course. It's just for a couple weeks. What could possibly go wrong?"

Laura smirked. "Knowing you, quite a lot."

"You doubt me. The kids and I will be fine. Remember, the twins are somewhat responsible. They can help out too."

"No driving to the scrapyard and trying to buy the tractor back-"

"I only did that once! Give me a break."

"I know, I know. Now, go get your coffee. I think you'll need it."

~IT~

Laura finally left in the late afternoon, after checking and double checking absolutely everything. She was heading to a spa farther upstate; it had been her birthday present the previous year and she was absolutely psyched about it. Laura was almost limitless in the sharing of her time, talents, and energy but even she needed a break once in a while. Clint was glad she would finally get a chance to have some alone time.

"Can we watch a movie?" Lila asked once she left.

"Sure. What do you want to watch?"

"Hmm…" She rummaged through the movies on the DVD shelf. It was quite extensive; Clint was a little bit of a movie buff. "What about… _Poltergeist_?"

"No. That movie would make you have nightmares for weeks."

" _The Conjuring?"_

"Lila, stop looking in the horror movie section please."

Lila sighed. "I don't know. I've seen all the rest of them. What about _Glitter Unicorn V: Return to Sparkles Island?"_

"No. Let's watch _Star Wars."_ Cooper said, taking a little bit of cough medicine. He'd had a bad cough on and off all day; Clint hoped he wasn't coming down with something.

"What's that about?" Pietro asked.

"You've never seen _Star Wars?"_

"Nope. Never."

"Then you haven't lived." Clint said, pulling out the box. "We're going to start with the original trilogy. You can't possibly stay in this house without seeing _Star Wars_ at least once."

Everyone seemed fine with that suggestion, so they settled in to watch the movie. It finished late so no one ended up going to bed until around midnight. Of course, Cooper and Lila were fine with that.

"So, what did you think?" Clint asked the twins as he put away the DVD.

"It was pretty good." Pietro said.

"Really? Just pretty good? That movie was my childhood."

"Pietro is just more of a horror fan." Wanda explained. "He says he won't get scared of them and then he won't sleep with the lights off for a month."

Pietro shot her a look that obviously said _You weren't supposed to tell him that!_

Clint smirked. "So, are the two of you staying up?"

"No. I think we'll need all the sleep we can get for tomorrow." Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel were great kids but they were overflowing with limitless energy.

"That's probably a good idea. 'Night." Clint checked all the security cameras and made sure all the doors were locked before he too decided to call it a night. He'd managed to get through his first evening without running into disaster. _And Laura said I was going to have trouble._

IT~

Later that night (or early the next morning, depending on how you looked at it) Clint woke up sick. And not just sick with a little cold.

He had a full blown case of the stomach flu that caused him to throw up for the first time in seven years.

 _Great. Just great. And of course it had to happen this week-of all the weeks in the year._ Clint didn't like getting sick in the first place-but he was supposed to be in charge. And he couldn't very well do that when he was laid up in bed trying to get the contents of his stomach to stay where they were.

The next morning, Pietro was rather surprised when he got downstairs and Clint hadn't started the coffee maker yet. Usually, the coffee was ready before he got up since years of agent training had taught Clint to be an incredibly early riser. However, this morning the coffee pot was cold and the coffee was still lined up on the counter where Clint had brought it home the day before and hadn't bothered to put it away. Of course, Pietro knew how to use a coffee maker-mostly. He made two cups-one for him and one for Wanda-without being asked.

Lila scampered downstairs. "Are you drinking coffee?"

"Yes I am. "

"Daddy drinks coffee."

"I know he does. So does my sister."

"Can I try a little bit of the coffee?"

Reluctantly, Pietro let her take a sip. She immediately spit it out-all over the kitchen table. "That tastes disgusting! How can you drink that?"

"You have to acquire a taste for it-and add a lot of sugar."

Lila looked around in confusion. "Where's Daddy?"

"I think he's still upstairs. Do you want to see if he wants to get up while I make you some cereal?"

Lila nodded and ran up the staircase. Five minutes later Wanda came downstairs looking anything but pleased. "Cooper says he has a headache. I think he might be getting sick."

"We'll ask Clint what to do when he gets up. I hope we didn't bring any flu microbes back from the Hammonds'."

Just then, Lila came back. "Daddy's sick."

"Sick how?" Pietro asked.

"He's throwing up. He said he might have the stomach flu. What are we going to do about it?"

That was going a little farther ahead than Pietro had thought out. He was still trying to process the fact that Clint was sick. Fortunately, Wanda talked for him. "We're going to get you some cereal." She opened the cupboard and pulled out three bowls. "Do you want to be a nurse for a few days, Lila?"

Lila nodded eagerly. "What do I get to do?"

Wanda rummaged in the back of the refrigerator. "I know I saw some back here…" After a few minutes she pulled out an only slightly flat bottle of Seven Up and poured a liberal amount into a drinking glass. "Give this to your dad. It's supposed to settle the stomach." Lila ran back upstairs for the second time in ten minutes.

"What do we do now?" Pietro asked.

"Just go with the flow, I guess. We know a little bit about illness." Disease had been a big problem in Sokovia ever since the government shut down. There hadn't been enough health care, doctors, or beds in hospitals.

"This is going to be a long week."

~IT~

After making sure the kids had breakfast-Lila had her cereal, Wanda took a tray up to Cooper, and Pietro fed Nathaniel with varying results-the twins went up to check on Clint. He seemed to be doing a little bit better since he was sitting up in bed and working on a crossword, but he was obviously still sick. "Hey guys." he said. "How's it going? Did the kids have breakfast?"

"Yes, they're fine. Do you need anything? Any kind of medication?" Wanda asked.

"There's probably some Tylenol in the bathroom cabinet. I'm pretty sure Laura bought more."

Pietro brought back a bottle that was almost empty. "There's a little bit. I'll have to go get more."

"You don't have to-"

"You need medicine. I have a driver's license, you know."

"Okay. Where did you get it? A crackerjack box? Are you sure you know which side of the road to drive on?"

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Of course. I've been living in America for about two months now. I'm not that new."

Clint chuckled until he started to cough instead. "Sorry about this, guys."

"It's fine. Just get some rest." Wanda replied. "We can look after Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel."

"I can call Laura, otherwise. She can always reschedule. It's not a big deal."

"No, it's okay. We'll be fine." Laura deserved a break. Wanda didn't want to interrupt her for something as trivial as a case of the flu.

~IT~

Pietro left for the store within the next hour. Wanda divided her morning between playing with the kids and checking on Clint. He threw up once more before lunch, but he managed to eat a little soup and a few saltine crackers that Wanda found in the back of the pantry. Pietro came back in the early afternoon with five different kinds of medicine. Lila and Cooper managed to play quietly; there were no flour wars or dirt bike fails today. For dinner, Pietro made spaghetti. He and Wanda decided that they should switch off for meals-because it looked like they were going to be making a lot of them.

"Is Daddy going to be all better tomorrow?" Lila asked.

"Probably not tomorrow. He's going to need a little time to get all the bad germs out of his system." Pietro responded. From the other side of the table, Cooper sneezed into his lemonade. "You okay, Cooper?"

The little boy nodded. "My nose is all stuffy."

"I'm sure Pietro got medicine for that." Wanda went to check, thinking _He got medicine for everything else._

Everyone went to bed early. Pietro made sure to check the security cameras and make sure all the doors were locked. He figured that was what Clint would have done.

~IT~

Clint was still throwing up the next morning. On top of that, he'd started to develop a fever. Thankfully, Pietro had bought a small army of saltines and sodas.

"You really don't know how to go grocery shopping, do you?" Wanda asked.

"I'm never quite sure what to get. There are too many things to choose from. Besides, what if the grocery store runs out of food? It's better to be prepared."

"Pietro, food shortages happened in Sokovia. This is America. The grocery store isn't going to run out of food-at least, not any time soon. But still, we could use the extra saltines."

Lila was all too happy to help them ferry food, water, and medicine between Clint's room and the kitchen. Cooper still had a killer headache so he spent the day watching TV-and Nathaniel as well. Clint's fever just got worse. Eventually, it got to the point where he felt sick even when he was just watching TV. Wanda and Pietro figured he just needed to sleep it off.

The next day was the worse yet. Clint's fever mellowed out at 102 degrees and stayed that way-not rising but not falling either. He spent most of the day asleep, which gave the twins time to figure out what was going on with Cooper. It was evident that he was going to catch the stomach virus too-his symptoms were just taking a lot longer to manifest.

That night, Wanda was too tired to cook anything fancy so they just had soup.

The third day was more of the same. Cooper had such a bad stomachache that he couldn't leave his bed, but he wasn't throwing up-not yet anyway. Clint felt a little bit better, so he watched TV for a while and managed to keep down a bowl of chicken noodle soup-which was the most progress he'd made in days.

"Why don't you go read to Cooper for a bit?" Wanda asked as Pietro cleaned up from their dinner of alphabet soup. "Lila and I can watch _Glitter Unicorn."_

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle _Glitter Unicorn?"_

"Probably." Lila wanted to watch it. If Lila wanted to do it, Wanda was fine with pretty much anything.

Cooper's room was dark; the little boy had the shades drawn against the sunlight. "Hey, Cooper." Pietro said, sitting down across from his bed. "How's it going?"

"Not so good. I don't feel well." Cooper replied. "How's Daddy?"

"He seems to be getting better. Do you want me to read you a story so you don't have to think about how bad you feel?"

Cooper nodded and closed his eyes. Pietro chose a book at random and started to read. He assumed he'd just read a chapter or two, but they both really got into the book. After about seven chapters they both fell asleep.

Clint threw up again just after Lila went to bed. "I think that was the last of it." he said as Wanda handed him a plate of crackers once the ordeal was finished. "We might be coming out of the woods."

"Believe me, we're not even close. But hopefully you should really start to get better tomorrow." Wanda replied. "I think Cooper is going to get it next. Pietro is with him right now. He's been reading to him for the past few hours."

"Are Lila and Nathaniel doing all right?"

"They're fine. Don't worry; Pietro and I have everything under control."

"I certainly don't doubt that."

~IT~

Clint's fever broke the next evening. By the morning of the fifth day, he was reading a magazine and even eating a few of the leftovers they had from dinner the previous night. Cooper still hadn't thrown up yet but he wasn't feeling any better. Pietro and Wanda took turns reading to him; neither them had gotten more than four or five hours of sleep a night.

Cooper finally threw up on the fifth day. This time, the twins knew exactly what to do and were ready with crackers, medicine, and saltines as soon as he had it all out.

Clint remained bed ridden for one more day. He was restless and impatient; he felt a lot better and he wanted to be able to watch Monday Night Football downstairs but Wanda and Pietro weren't taking any chances. "Do you need anything else?" Wanda asked for the fifth time, taking away his plate from lunch. Pietro was watching Lila and Nathaniel, every so often checking on Cooper.

"Do you have today's newspaper by any chance?"

She ran downstairs and brought it back up. "Here's a pen for the crossword puzzle."

"I'm beginning to think you know me too well. How's Cooper?"

"He threw up a couple of hours ago. We gave him a little soup for lunch; we'll not sure if he'll keep it down though. Pietro has the path to the bathroom marked out though, just in case."

"The two of you are really on top of this, aren't you?"

"Yeah. It's not too hard."

Clint pulled out the crossword puzzle and started to work on it. "No, I know from personal experience that it _is_ hard. And the two of you have done a great job making sure everything gets done. I want to say thank you for that. Hopefully I'm good to go and you guys can finally get a little sleep."

"That would be nice." Wanda tried to stifle a sneeze, but it didn't really work.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Positive?"

"Go work on your crossword. I'll be back later with more medicine."

~IT~

Finally, on the sixth day Clint was completely healed. Meanwhile, Cooper was on a downhill slide-but at least he was able to sleep for most of the day.

"Who wants cereal?" Clint asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee. _Crisis averted._

Lila didn't move from her spot in front of the TV. That was Clint's first sign that something was wrong.

"Lila? Do you want cereal?" he asked.

She looked up at him sadly. "Daddy, I don't feel so well." She promptly threw up all over the coffee table. Thankfully, there was nothing on it.

 _You have got to be kidding me._ And Laura was still at the spa for another week. "Okay, honey. Why don't you go back up to bed and try and get some rest?" He made sure she was comfortable and took her temperature. 99 and rising.

Back in the kitchen, Wanda was trying to make coffee but she kept putting the mix in the wrong way. "Pietro threw up last night." she said, sneezing again. "He's sleeping in."

"If he threw up he's not getting up at all. Lila is sick, too. Hey, do you need help with the coffee maker?"

"The mix won't go in."

"Try turning it the other way."

Wanda turned it slightly and the mix fit perfectly. "Oh. I didn't see that."

"Wanda, are you sure you're all right?"

For a second he thought she was going to lie and say she was fine-until she ran to the bathroom and locked herself inside. Half an hour later she came out again, shaky and pale. "No. Not really."

"Okay. Go lie down and I'll get some medicine." After she went upstairs he pulled out his phone and dialed. He could handle one kid-not four. "Nat? Laura is out of town for her spa appointment and Lila, Cooper, Pietro, and Wanda all have the stomach flu. I could definitely use a little backup."

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	6. In Need of Backup

**Here is the part two of the previous chapter! This one was my idea. Hope you like it :)**

 **Also, I am out of town for the next 2-3 days. I may or may not be updating depending on my schedule, but in case you're looking for a new chapter and there's not one posted that's the reason why.**

 **Anyway, thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. Keep them coming! I love getting new prompts (and it's nice to know that my writing isn't total crap).**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

Natasha arrived at the Barton household five hours later, cutting a mission in Sri Lanka short. She was prepared for almost anything-nuclear attacks, armed robbery, and an invasion of wild dogs.

However, she wasn't exactly sure what to do with four sick kids.

"How long have they been sick?" she asked, watching Clint heat up yet another package of chicken noodle soup. He certainly had a lot of it on hand.

"Cooper threw up for the first time yesterday. I hear Pietro caught the flu last night sometime, and Lila and Wanda both got sick within twenty minutes of each other. So yeah, it's just started."

"Well, that makes our job easier."

"You got a flu shot, right?"

"Yeah. Let's hope it works." Natasha wasn't really that well acquainted with kids-especially sick ones. What were you supposed to do? Just give them medicine and work for the virus to work its way out of the system?

According to Clint, that was exactly what you did.

"So let me get this straight-you think this Shanna kid got everyone infected, by sneezing on the cookie basket or something. She passed it to you and you passed it the rest of the kids. How have you been surviving this last week?" Natasha asked.

"The twins, mostly. They've been taking care of things around the house. They can actually be pretty responsible if the need arises."

"Interesting. So, where am I bringing this?" She held up a bowl of soup.

"Cooper. He's got the highest fever."

"Got it." She went to Cooper's room and knocked on the door gingerly. "Hey, kid. Can I come in?"

Cooper propped himself up on one elbow. His hair was sticky with sweat. "Aunt Nat?"

"Yeah. So, how're you feeling?"

"Sick. Why are you here?"

"Your dad called me for backup. Apparently, he kind of freaked when all four of you guys came down sick."

"Four? Who else is-"

"Lila and the twins. Nathaniel is the only one who's managed to avoid all of this-and I think that's a good thing. Here-do you think you can hold some food down?"

He looked at the soup she offered him rather suspiciously. "Pietro and Wanda used to give me cups of Sprite. They said it helped to settle the stomach."

"Try some soup."

He pulled out the puppy dog eyes, knowing full well that Natasha couldn't resist the power of the puppy eyes. "Can I have some soda? Pleeeeease?"

"Sure. I'll be right back. Try and get some sleep while I'm gone, okay?"

She ran back downstairs. Clint was just returning from changing Nathaniel's diaper. "How was he?" he asked in concern.

"He wants Sprite. He said the twins gave it to him and it seemed to help."

"I think Pietro bought some when he went to the store a few days ago. Look in the pantry."

The pantry was filled wall to wall with soup cans, saltine crackers, and two liter bottles of Sprite. "Wow."

"What can I say? The kid buys in bulk."

When Natasha finally got back upstairs with the Sprite, Cooper was already asleep. Rather than waking him up, she left the soda on his bedside in case he needed it the next time he awakened. The kids were like time bombs-if you spent too much time with any one of them, another one would go off.

Lila managed to eat a few spoonfuls of soup but threw it up an hour later. "My tummy feels funny, Aunt Nat."

"I know. It'll get better. Try and get some sleep, okay?"

"Can Wanda tell me another story about Princess Rainbow Unicorn?"

"Uh…not right now. Wanda came down with the same thing you have."

"Oh. Can you tell me about Princess Rainbow Unicorn?"

"Okay. Once upon a time there was a princess named Rainbow Unicorn-"

"Her name isn't Rainbow Unicorn. She's a rainbow unicorn and she's a princess. She lives in a castle made of clouds."

"All right then. Princess Rainbow Unicorn lived in a castle made of clouds. She played a lot with her friend, Pegasus-"

"Princess Rainbow Unicorn would never play with Princess Pegasus! They hate each other!"

"Oh, okay then-"

Thankfully, Natasha heard Clint calling her from downstairs and she had to 'apologize' to Lila for not finishing the story.

Lila shrugged. "That's okay. Wanda tells better Princess Rainbow Unicorn stories anyway."

Clint was watching sports, looking half asleep and keeping one ear cocked toward the stairwell just in case anything happened. "How'd it go with Lila?"

"She wanted Wanda to tell her a bedtime story. Unfortunately, she had to settle for my supremely inferior storytelling abilities."

Clint smirked. "Was it Princess Rainbow Unicorn?"

"It was indeed."

"If we can just get through the next couple of days, their fevers should start to go down. After that we'll be out of the woods. Until then…"

"We can handle it. How were the twins doing?"

"Wanda was asleep and Pietro was still throwing up. He's been doing it on and off all day and his fever just spiked. I'm wondering if his super speed makes everything go faster-"

"Including illness."

"Exactly."

"Then he's in for a rough night."

Clint sighed. "I know. I think we all are."

~IT~

All the kids threw up at least once that night. Natasha was practically run ragged running from the kitchen to the bedrooms and back again with Sprite, crackers, and Tylenol.

The next day was even worse, if that was possible. Pietro spent the entire day locked in the bathroom with a fever of 102. Clint actually seemed really worried about him. "He's going too fast. If he's not back to a decent temperature by tomorrow, I say we call the hospital."

"He'll be fine." Natasha hoped so, at least. She didn't relish having to explain to any doctors that Pietro had been the subject of illegal experimentation and had been granted certain…powers. "But that's probably a good idea."

Cooper's fever broke just after dinner; he managed to eat an entire bowl of soup and made a ruckus until Clint found him some old comic books to read. He still ate plenty of saltines and soda though, just in case.

That was how Clint found himself upstairs at 10:30 with a dose of Tylenol and a glass of water standing outside a closed bathroom door. "Pietro?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

"No." the voice inside replied. "Go away."

"I brought medicine and some water. Do you want them now?"

"Leave them outside please. I'll have them later, when I'm a little surer I won't puke them up."

"At least take the medicine. It'll help. Trust me."

There was a pause and then the door opened a crack. Pietro looked out at him, eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep and feverish to boot. "Thank you." He downed the medicine in one gulp and took a swig of water. "I feel like I'm dying."

"You better not-not after everything that's happened since Sokovia. It's just a case of the stomach flu. You'll get over it."

"I've been throwing up almost nonstop for the past twenty four hours-and I don't feel so great right now." he replied dryly. "I haven't eaten anything. I've barely slept. I am not in the best of moods."

"Hey, it'll pass. Remember, I just went through all this. I know how it feels. It really sucks, I know, but it does get better. I promise."

"I didn't even know I had anything left to throw up."

"Your stomach enjoys surprising you like that."

"How is Wanda?"

"About the same as you are. You're in the same boat with her and Lila-and in a few days it'll be like none of this ever happened."

"I just want to be able to eat something."

"Soon. Having the flu sucks, but everyone gets it once in a while. You'll feel better."

"How soon?"

"Very. Or you'll be able to eat again at the very least."

"Can you make milkshakes?"

"Maybe not at first, but yes. When everyone's better I'll make milkshakes."

Pietro chuckled. "Remember to keep the top on the blender, old man."

"Very funny. Have a fun time throwing up your stomach acids. I'll be up later with some soda. Try and get some sleep, if you can."

"Good advice. I'll see if I'm able to take it." Pietro stretched out on the bathroom floor, looking surprisingly comfortable. "This is actually not where I'd imagined spending my Wednesday night."

"Life is full of surprises, isn't it kid?"

~IT~

According to popular opinion, Pietro's fever broke early the next morning and he was able to eat a few peanut butter and cracker sandwiches-more importantly, he was able keep them down. Cooper was feeling good enough for a bowl of cereal and mild, which he scarfed down eagerly before going to see Pietro. He brought his favorite book about sports superstars and read to the Avenger for almost three hours before Natasha finally said Pietro needed to get some rest if he wanted to stay on the road to recovery. Of course, Pietro was so tired he was out cold for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, the girls' fevers persisted. Lila took an old china bowl into her bedroom with her so she wouldn't have to constantly keep making the trip to the bathroom at odd hours of the day and night.

Of course, that was the night Laura decided to call.

"Hi, honey." she said happily. In fact, she sounded more relaxed than she had in weeks-maybe even months. "How's it going?"

 _Let's see here…we have one kid who's mostly better, one kid who's getting there, and two kids who are practically living out of the bathrooms. We're running low on saltines and medication-not to mention everyone is tired of chicken noodle soup._ "We're great. How are you?"

"It's amazing here, Clint. Everyone here is so nice…they make me feel right at home. Maybe you should try a weekend or so here."

"You know, I think I'm fine."

"If you say so. Can I talk to the kids?"

Clint glanced around in panic, searching for an excuse. "Um, not at the moment. The twins took them swimming. They won't be back for a couple of hours yet."

"Oh, should I call later?"

"NO-I mean, we're going out to dinner in town. We'll get home really late and the kids will be asleep on their feet. You know how it is. Tonight just isn't a good time, Laura."

"Clint, are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." _And Wanda is due for another dose in an hour and a half…I'm going to have to run to the store or something…_ "Have a nice night, sweetheart."

"Believe me, I will. See you in a few days. I love you, honey."

"I love you too. See you soon." He pressed the End Call button with a sigh of relief. Laura didn't need to come back early just for a couple cases of the flu. Besides, they were a lot better off now than they had been two days ago.

He pulled the car keys out of their dish and passed Natasha on his way out. She was watching some crime show and looked half asleep. "I'm going to the grocery store. I'll be back later. Can you hold down the fort?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll call you if anything changes."

~IT~

"What do you mean you're out of Tylenol?" Clint had to work hard at not screaming at the pharmacist working the counter, but it was very hard. He was tired and stressed; he just wanted everyone better as soon as possible.

The person behind the counter, a college student who looked positively terrified, checked the computer for the twelfth time. "Sorry, sir. We're all out. Would you like to place an order?"

"No. I just need some flu medication right now. Like right this second."

"I'll see what I can find."

"Try and make it quick. The flu has been really bad at our house."

The kid nodded in understanding and rummaged in a few boxes. They managed to piece together a few knockoff brands that could get the job done, although Clint felt antsy the whole time. _Come on, though. Who runs out of Tylenol?_

He drove about thirty miles above the speed limit the entire way home.

~IT~

By the next morning, Pietro and Cooper felt well enough to have breakfast together. Lila's fever broke and she watched them almost longingly from the top of the staircase. "Can I have some cereal?" she asked Clint when he came up to look her over.

"Not right now, sweetheart. We want to make it sure you can keep it down, okay? How about we give you a little soup now and if you feel up to it you can have some cereal for lunch?"

Lila grinned and downed her bowl of soup happily. "I feel a lot better, Daddy!"

"Great-but I think you should stay in bed for the next day or so just to be safe."

Lila sighed. "Fine. Can you play with me while I'm in here? It gets boring up here being all by myself."

"Maybe in a little bit. I have to check on Wanda first."

"Is she still sick?"

"I think so. You know that Mommy comes home tomorrow, right?"

Lila nodded happily. "I can't wait to tell her about everything we did!"

 _Like eat soup until we couldn't stand the sight of it._ "I'm sure she'll think that we had an interesting week."

"Daddy, do you remember when you were sick and me and Wanda and Pietro looked after you? Was I a good nurse?"

"Yes, Lila. You were wonderful. I don't think I could have gotten better without you. Now, why don't you try and sleep yet-just to be on the safe side?"

"Okay." Lila yawned and curled up under her sheets. She was asleep within moments; Clint could hear her deep and even breathing.

"Sweet dreams, Lila." he whispered as he shut the door softly.

~IT~

Clint caught Pietro trying to sneak into Wanda's room. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you." he said.

"Why not?" Pietro asked. "She's my sister."

"Yes, and she's also still sick. You don't want to get her sicker, or vice versa."

"I haven't talked to her in almost five days."

"I'm sure you'll live."

"Besides, I'm fine."

"Listen, I'm sure she'll be well again tomorrow or the next day. Until then, do you want to give Lila a little soup?"

"Sure. Clint…check on her while you're in there, okay? Make sure she's still doing all right."

"I will, kid. I'm sure we'll all be just fine."

Wanda was sitting by the window, wrapped in a blanket and watching Cooper play in the backyard. "How is everyone doing?" she asked.

"Lila's fever just broke. Pietro has been asking to see you, but I thought it would be best to keep him out just to be safe-at least until your fever breaks."

Wanda sighed. "I still feel like crap and don't imagine that happening anytime soon."

"Hey, you're almost done. In a couple days you'll make a full recovery. Until then, why don't you sleep a little bit more?"

"I'm sick of sleeping."

"Just for two more days?"

"I suppose that can be doable. Thanks for taking care of us for the past few days."

"Well, I couldn't exactly let the two of you wander around sick, now could I? It was only fair, after all."

~IT~

By the next morning, Lila was all set to play outside with Cooper and Pietro. Wanda's fever broke late in the day, although Clint judged she would probably have to wait another day until she was well enough to leave her bedroom. Pietro finally got to see her; of course, he spent twenty minutes asking if she was okay.

Laura got back late that night. Clint had to wonder what she might have been thinking when she came in to see Natasha on the couch reading a book to Lila, Cooper riding a dirt bike down the street, Clint watching a movie for the first time in days, and Pietro making soup. "Uh…hey guys. What's going on in here?" she asked. "Natasha, what are you…?"

"Clint called me. It's a long story. How was the spa?"

"It was nice. Did the rest of you have a good time?"

"Yeah. Everyone got the stomach flu, but that stuff happens sometimes, you know? We're all mostly better now."

"…Mostly?"

"Wanda is still a little sick, but we're expecting she'll be better by tomorrow."

"See honey?" Clint called from his reclined position on the couch. "I can be responsible if I have to be."

"Only after you got yourself sick, leaving your care in the hands of two little kids and two seventeen year olds." Natasha cut in.

"…Looks like you've got a lot to tell me about." Laura replied.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Backyard Camp Out

**All right. Looks like I had time to write a little something.**

 **Pietro and Wanda go on a treehouse campout in the backyard with Cooper and Lila and things get a little more…exciting than anyone thought they would be.**

 **Disclaimer: see Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

"Lila, do you have your sleeping bag?"

"Yeah, Mommy. You just asked me that."

"Okay. Cooper, I hope you aren't thinking of bringing those plastic bugs outside."

"No, I was just going to-"

"And I also hope you weren't planning to put them in Lila's pillowcase, like you did last time."

"What? Why would you say that?"

"…Just a thought. And know that if you do anything like that, you will be grounded until the middle of next summer."

"Fine. I'll put them back."

"That better not be Freddy the cockroach I see sticking out of your pocket."

"…Dang it."

"Pietro, if you damage my _Star Wars_ movies I swear I will-"

"Just relax, Clint. I know how to handle DVDs."

It was quite obvious to Pietro that Lila and Cooper had either never had a treehouse campout or they hadn't had one in a very long time. Clint and Laura were asking even more questions and giving even more instructions than they had the night the twins had watched Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel.

"Can we take Nathaniel with us?" Lila asked.

Clint and Laura exchanged a look. "I think Nathaniel is a little too young for that." Clint said. "Maybe in a couple years, okay? Remember, when you're out there Pietro and Wanda are in charge. Their word is law."

Cooper rolled his eyes. "I know, Dad. I've heard this speech before."

Just then, Laura noticed Lila trying to sneak her entire box of Barbies and Barbie clothes out the back door. "Lila, where are you going with these?"

"I want to play Barbies."  
"I don't think there's going to be enough room in the treehouse for the four of you and all of you dolls."

"I haven't even gotten the town house yet."

"I think your dolls can stay in the house for one night, don't you think?"

Lila sighed reluctantly. "Fine. Can we watch Disney movies, too?"

"As long as they don't include _Frozen."_ Clint cut in.

"Why can't we watch _Frozen?_ I promise not to sing or anything."

"Lila, what have I told you about making promises you can't keep? I just got the songs out of my head. I don't need them stuck in there again."

"But Wanda and Pietro haven't seen the movie yet."

"Actually, we have." Pietro said.

"Yes. We sneaked out of the base for a night on the town and decided to go see a movie because we hadn't seen one in so long. _Frozen_ was one of the shows that happened to be playing and Pietro was positive it was a dystopian movie. I have no idea where he got that idea, but he insisted we go to it. So we ended up watching that instead of _The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug."_ Wanda sounded like she still resented missing _The Hobbit._

" _Frozen_ wasn't that bad." Pietro said sheepishly.

"Yes, but I wanted to watch _The Hobbit._ Mother read that to us when we were eight, remember?"

"Anyway, yes. We've seen _Frozen._ Wanda can quote the entire movie backwards and forwards."

"I think you're talking about yourself."

Cooper was waiting impatiently near the back door. "Come on, guys! We're burning darkness."

"Are you sure you have enough snacks and the spare house key?" Laura asked.

"I believe we could feed a small army with the amount of food we have in the treehouse." Pietro replied. "We'll be fine."

Clint nodded. "Well, you know where to find us if you need anything. Have a great night, guys."

"You too." Pietro followed Cooper out to the treehouse carrying four sleeping bags and a cooler of cold waters. It was like they were going to be camping out for a whole week, not just a single night.

Still, he was very excited. Having a sleepover in the backyard seemed like the kind of thing that every kid did at least once during their childhood-the kind of thing he'd been denied after the shelling.

And he couldn't wait to try his first s'more.

~IT~

It was already about 8:30 and it still wasn't dark yet. Everyone had plenty of light to see by as they spread out their sleeping bags in the treehouse's main room, in front of a small portable TV. They planned to watch movies for most of the night-Lila had brought a stack of Disney titles as long as her arm, while Pietro just wanted to get through _The Empire Strikes Back._

He glanced at the sleeping bag Wanda was borrowing from Lila and smirked. It was a little on the small side, but it was better than nothing. It was also covered in Disney princesses.

Wanda caught his look and rolled her eyes. _Says the person who's sleeping in an Aquaman sleeping bag._

Cooper set up the TV. "So, what are we watching first?"

" _Tangled!"_ Lila cried, brandishing the movie like some sort of weapon. "Please?"

Cooper sighed. "Fine." He navigated the TV with a practiced grace that suggested he'd done this before. Pietro wished he shared his prowess. He still had trouble channel surfing-with technology in general, actually. HYDRA hadn't exactly been nice enough to buy him and Wanda iPhones for their birthdays. He started the movie and they all settled down to watch.

Eventually the sun went down and it started to get dark. Still they watched Disney movies-first _Cinderella,_ followed by _Beauty and the Beast._ Lila knew every word to every Disney song and she liked to sing along. Meanwhile, Cooper kept refilling the popcorn bowl.

Finally, as the end credits of _Sleeping Beauty_ began to roll, he clicked off the TV. "Let's tell scary stories." he said eagerly.

"No, Cooper. We don't want anyone to have bad dreams." Pietro glanced at Lila.

"I'm not afraid of scary stories!" Lila cried. "I'm brave like Daddy!"

"I have a really scary one!" Cooper cried. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, listening to the humming of crickets and cicadas as they put on their nighttime performance. "This story is about the killer bear that roams this farmland. He's been alive for as long as anyone can remember and he's impossible to kill. His fur is tough as iron and his claws are sharp as spears. His roar can shake forests and his tail can knock down entire skyscrapers with just one swing. He lives only for killing. There have been 790 killings that have been confirmed to be his work, but there are even more missing persons cases…people who have disappeared into the night on cold and moonless nights just like this one, never to be seen again. They say that the bear is a master of stealth-you never know he's coming until he's snapped your neck with one crunch of his powerful jaws. But you can be sure that he's always watching…just waiting to find his next victim…BOO!" He lunged at Lila and she shrieked happily as he started to tickle her.

"Now it's your turn." she said, gesturing to Wanda. "Tell us a ghost story!"

"No, not a ghost story! Tell us a war story!" Cooper interrupted.

The twins exchanged a look. The things they'd experienced in Sokovia were like the stuff of nightmares. They were definitely not for children-especially for Cooper and Lila. "Are you sure you don't want to hear about something happier?" Pietro asked.

Cooper shook his head. "We can handle it. Dad tells us about his missions."

Wanda sighed. "Once upon a time there was a little boy who was really hungry. His family had run out of food and they sent him down to the corner store to buy a loaf of bread. They gave him a couple silver coins, because that was all the money they had left. On his way to the bakery, he got mugged by a pair of tramps who were even more desperate for money than he was and he lost his two precious silver coins. When he reached the bakery, he was completely empty handed. When the baker asked him what he wanted, he said he needed a loaf of bread because his family was out of food and he had two little sisters who were hungry. The baker said 'What kind of establishment do you think I'm running here? No money, no food.' The little boy was desperate and he knew he couldn't go home empty handed, so he did the only thing he could. He stole a loaf of bread and ran. Unfortunately, he was mugged again on the way home and had to go back empty handed anyway. The end."

Cooper and Lila were extremely quiet. "Where's the happy ending?" Lila asked after a while.

"You asked for a war story. War stories don't have happy endings." Really, that was the happiest story Wanda had been able to come up with on such short notice.

"What happened to his little sisters?"

"They went to stay with some relatives. They were both fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Positive."

"See? The story does have a happy ending." Pietro said, glaring at her. _Really, Wanda? That was the best you could come up with?_

"Let's make s'mores!" Cooper cried as he pulled out graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate. He'd been scandalized when he'd learned that the twins had never had s'mores before.

"Yeah!" Lila cried. "Can we make a fire?"

"Sure." Pietro led the way to the bonfire pit. Lila had told him that Laura and Clint sometimes had bonfires with their friends later in the summer. It hadn't been used when Pietro had been at the house, but he was determined to toast his marshmallows himself.

Working together, he and Wanda banked up the fire while Cooper and Lila found suitable sticks for toasting marshmallows. Then they took seats around the fire and the kids showed Pietro and Wanda how toasting marshmallows actually worked. .

Neither of them had instant success. Wanda's marshmallow fell into the fire since she hadn't put it on securely, and Pietro held his over the fire too long until it turned to ash and practically fell apart in his hands. It was obvious Cooper and Lila were trying not to laugh as they easily toasted their marshmallows perfectly on the first try and went on to craft the rest of their treats.

"Showoffs." Pietro muttered as he tried again. He waited for a small layer of char to form, the way Cooper had told him to.

"It's starting to look a little toasty." Lila observed.

"Right." Pietro withdrew the marshmallow and went to take it off the stick, forgetting it would be hot to the touch. It burnt his hands badly and he had to bite his tongue so he wouldn't use words he wouldn't normally use in the presence of children. "Well, is that good?"

Lila examined it with a practiced eye. "It's a little hard, but it'll still taste really good. Now you put the marshmallow in between two graham crackers, put some chocolate on top of the marshmallow…and enjoy!"

Pietro savored his first bite of s'more. It was delicious and fell apart in his mouth. It had to be the best thing he'd ever eaten, hands down. "I understand why s'mores are so beloved."

It took Wanda a couple more tries, but eventually she too tried her first s'more. "Mmm…this is delicious."

Lila nodded happily. "I love s'mores. Sometimes Daddy makes them for me in the microwave, but I think they're best when they've been toasted over an open fire. Don't you think?"

Pietro didn't know how anyone could possibly make s'mores any other way.

For the next thirty minutes, they made more s'mores. Sometimes, the twins were successful-eventually, Pietro got the hang of it and soon he was toasting marshmallows like a pro-but occasionally marshmallows were dropped into the flames. It didn't matter; everyone laughed anyway. Pietro burnt his tongue eating the piping hot marshmallows, but he didn't care. He felt so relaxed; nothing was wrong, everything was working out.

Just then, Cooper stopped mid laugh. He was looking out at the expansive cornfields behind the house nervously. "I think there's something out there."

Pietro followed his line of sight dismissively. "There's nothing there."

"Maybe it's the bear!" Lila cried.

"That's just a story, Lila." Wanda replied. "There's no such thing as killer bears."

"What's that then?" Cooper pointed into the darkened fields. As Pietro watched, he began to make out the shape of something slinking through the undergrowth-something large and dark.

"It's probably a raccoon or something."

"That doesn't look like a raccoon. What if it's the killer bear?"

Pietro sighed. "For the last time, there's no such thing as a killer bear."

The…thing let out a loud howl that chilled Pietro to the bone. "That's not a bear."

"What if it's a wolf?" Lila asked.

"It's not a wolf." At least, Pietro hoped it wasn't. "I'll go check it out."

"I'm coming too." Cooper said.

"No, you're going to stay here with Wanda and Lila." And then he was off in a flash of blue. He circled the field and came back not even winded. "That's not a wolf. It's a dog."

"A dog? What's a dog doing all the way out here?" Wanda asked.

"It's probably Mrs. Green's. She lets her dog run loose at night." Cooper said knowledgably. "He's a nice dog."

"His name's Lucky." Lila said. "Can we go play with him?"

"Not right now." Pietro figured they'd had enough excitement for one night. "What do you say we go back to the treehouse and Wanda can tell us a bedtime story?"

"So now telling bedtime stories has become my job?" Wanda asked.

"Apparently so-because you're so good at it."

"You flatter me."

~IT~

"Lila, your hand is in my face." Cooper muttered, shifting in his sleeping bag so he was turned away from his sister.

"Sorry. Wanda, can you tell me another story about Princess Rainbow Unicorn?"

Wanda looked like she was asleep-or at least wished she was. "I don't think Cooper and Pietro probably want to hear about Princess Rainbow Unicorn."

"Can you sing something for us instead?"

"Not right now."

"Please?"

"…I suppose. But only if Pietro sings with me."

Pietro rolled his eyes. "You know I'm not that good of a singer."

"Remember that folk song Mother used to sing to us? Do you still remember it?"

"Of course." Pietro took the alto part, while Wanda layered her voice on top of his. The song was more of an epic than a lullaby-about a pair of lovers who were separated in the aftermath of a cataclysmic natural disaster and had to find their way back to each other-but the little kids seemed enchanted.

By the time they were finished, Cooper and Lila were asleep-and the twins were getting there as well. "It's been a while since we sang that." Pietro said, stretching out on his sleeping bag. He could see the stars through the tree house's roof if he looked upwards at exactly the right angle. "Maybe we should do it again more often."

"Yes, maybe we should." Wanda replied. "Well, this was fun."

"I'll say. But let's agree never to tell anyone about these…sleeping bags."

Wanda laughed. "Agreed. Good night, Pietro."

"Good night, Wanda. And Lila. And Cooper. Sleep well."

"You too. You know, that dog had you going for a little while. You thought it was actually a killer bear-just for a little bit."

"I did not."

"Just keep telling yourself that."

And so the small group fell asleep under the stars.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Enjoy!**


	8. Kites and Trees

**And I'm back! Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **This prompt comes from Crazed Fangirl13.**

 **Enjoy!**

Pietro knew they were going to have problems as soon as Lila came back from the summer camp she'd been enrolled in for a week with a handmade kite made of sticks and colored pieces of cloth. It looked incredibly flimsy and he doubted it would even get off the ground, but Lila was immensely proud of it and paraded it around the house so everyone could see it.

Later that night, she decided to fly it. Contrary to Pietro's initial misgivings, the kite was actually a very good flyer-perhaps too good. It flew so high that it got stuck in a tall tree on the other side of the property.

Of course, Pietro volunteered to climb up and get it back down.

Wanda glanced at the tree appraisingly. It was rather tall and hard to climb; there weren't many tree limbs to grip onto. However, Pietro was Pietro and he was determined to try. "Are you sure you can climb it?"

"Of course I can. Here, watch." Slowly, he found the first branch and pulled himself up.

"Be careful."

"I'm always careful." _Find the handholds…that's right…_

The kite had gotten stuck pretty high up in the tree; he had to climb a long time to even get close.

"I can probably levitate it-"

The kite was encircled by thorns. Pietro had no doubt that Wanda would be able to use telekinesis to move the kite, but that also meant that she had a good chance of ripping the carefully colored cloth if she wasn't careful. "It's fine. I've got this." Wanda could be so overprotective sometimes; it drove him insane, especially when he wanted to do something completely reckless.

Cooper and Lila were looking up at him in fascination; he tried not to laugh. They were so young, so innocent…everything fascinated them. Everything made them look up in wonder, made them curious…Pietro envied them. They were so lucky to live where they did and have the kind of family they had; he hoped they would never forget that or take it for granted.

"Here you go." he said, reaching the branch where the kite was stuck between two twigs and carefully releasing it. It held its form very well, without even a scratch to mar it. He let it flutter to the ground, where Lila caught it eagerly.

"Thank you!" she called up to him, smiling broadly.

He nodded and started his descent. It should have been easy-back in Sokovia, he'd been an experienced tree climber-but Wanda had been right-the tree was a hard climb. Its trunk was too smooth, and it took all the concentration he had to move from branch to branch without falling.

It happened fast-one minute he was climbing down the tree and slowly but steadily making progress but the next minute his foot had slipped on its foothold and he was falling through the air. He hit the ground hard and landed on his right arm with a loud crack. Waves of pain laced his arm and he instinctively knew that he'd broken it.

Instantly, Wanda was by his side. "What happened? Are you all right?" she asked, examining him for injuries.

"It's nothing…but my arm appears to be broken."

Carefully, she inspected it. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes. It hurts a lot." That was a slight understatement. It felt like it was in agony.

Wanda nodded once and turned to Cooper and Lila, who were waiting nearby to see if Pietro had been injured in his fall. "I need the two of you to run back to the house. Tell your parents what happened and say that Pietro may have broken his arm and might have to go to a hospital." Instantly, they sprinted off. Even though Cooper didn't have super speed, he could still be pretty fast when he wanted to be.

"I'm not going to have to go to a hospital. It's not that bad."

"I'm not taking any chances."

Pietro sighed and rubbed his injured arm. He hated hospitals. "Haven't we been to hospitals enough in the past couple of months?" They both had those nightmares-the nightmares where they went into a hospital and never came out. It was a reality they'd both had to consider time and time again.

"Yes, but broken arms are common occurrences. It's going to be fine."

"Promise?" He felt like a child, seeking reassurance. He'd thought he was better than that.

"Yes. I promise."

Just then, Cooper came running back to them followed by the rest of the family. Laura immediately knelt down next to Pietro so she could examine his arm. "What happened?" she asked.

"Pietro was getting my kite and he fell out of the tree." Lila explained. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Of course, sweetie. But his arm is definitely broken. We'll need to take him to the hospital and get it checked out just in case. Where's Clint?"

"He said he was going to bring the car around." Cooper answered.

"Okay. We'll meet him there. Come on, everyone. Pietro is going to be fine." Laura led the way to the front of the house. Lila rushed to keep up with her; the kite lay forgotten in the middle of the yard.

"Can you move it without feeling any pain?" Wanda asked, helping Pietro to his feet.

"Not really…it hurts a lot."

"It could have been worse. You could have broken a leg."

She had a point there. Having a broken arm was bad enough, but having a broken leg? Pietro didn't think he'd be able to survive not being able to run. "Right. Let's just get this done. The sooner we're out of that place, the better."

~IT~

"Clint, slow down. You're going to get us all killed." The Bartons and the twins were speeding down back roads and passed derelict summer cottages at a speed that was about twenty miles over the speed limit.

"Sorry." Clint eased up on the gas just slightly, so they were only fifteen miles over.

Laura sighed as Nathaniel started to cry again. "Lila, can you get the diaper bag in the backseat? He's probably hungry, and I always keep an extra bottle or two ready just in case."

"It's in the trunk." Lila replied. "Do you want me to get it?" It looked like the prospect excited her; she was already poised to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"I've got it." Wanda said, carefully climbing over the last row of seats and into the trunk. "Is it the blue bag with the baby animals on it?"

"That's the one. Clint, be careful!" He had to swerve to avoid a deer that had come up out of nowhere, sending the car veering sharply to the right. "Thank goodness we're almost to the hospital."

By the time Nathaniel had his bottle and was sleeping peacefully again, the car pulled into the hospital parking lot. Pietro was trying not to jostle his arm; it really hurt when he moved it. Unfortunately, it had been shaken about a lot on the drive over.

"I'll get us signed in." Laura said as she walked up to the front desk. The others stayed in the front vestibule, making sure everything was in order.

"Are you all right?" Clint asked Pietro. "Sorry I drove a little crazily. I just wanted to get here as soon as possible."

"I know. I appreciate it. Don't worry about me. It doesn't hurt that much when I just keep it still."

"Why were you climbing a tree like that? You could have just come and asked me for a ladder or something."

Pietro smirked. "That would be called doing things the easy way."

"You're just begging to get killed, aren't you?"

"It's fine as long as I go out with a bang."

Still, Pietro was surprised to find that Clint looked almost nervous when Laura told them that there would be about a twenty minute wait before they could get in to see a doctor. "In the meantime, he gave us some paperwork to fill out. Pietro, do you know your health care provider?"

He exchanged a glance with Wanda. He was pretty sure they hadn't had a health care provider in almost eight years. "I don't know."

"Any kind of insurance?"

"No."

"We can make something up." Clint said.

"We're not making up an insurance company!" Laura said. "We'll just say that they're uninsured or something like that…" She looked at the next few questions, muttering under her breath.

Cooper and Lila were getting antsy staying in one place. "Can we go exploring?" Cooper asked.

"I want to look at all the little babies!" Lila said.

"Not right now. The two of you are too young to go exploring by yourselves. I brought workbook pages for you to do while we wait."

Lila shook her head automatically. _Anything but the workbook pages._ "Wanda can take us."

"I'm sure Wanda wants to stay with her brother."

Wanda looked torn. On the one hand, Pietro had just broken his arm-but on the other hand she hated refusing Lila and Cooper. "It's fine. We'll just take a short walk. Be right back." Pietro wondered if he was the only one who noticed the small bits of magic leaking out from her fingertips. Obviously Wanda would be able to control her powers, but it was obvious she was upset. _She probably thinks this is her fault._

The remaining members of the party settled back to wait. Laura had brought a magazine full of quilting patterns; she was cutting them out serenely like it was just a normal day in the Barton household. Pietro marveled at the fact that she could keep her cool in any and all situations-then again, she was a stay at home mom raising three kids. She'd probably learned to deal with a lot over the years.

Clint had also brought a book, but he wasn't reading. Pietro saw that he'd been on the same page for ten minutes, rereading the same passage over and over again. "Dense reading?"

Clint looked up in surprise. "No. I'm just…having a hard time focusing, I guess."

"Why?" Clint also possessed the innate ability to stay calm and collected no matter what. He never had a hard time focusing-even in the midst of fighting an army of evil robots bent on the extinction of the human race in a city hundreds of miles above the planet's surface.

He shrugged. "Your arm doesn't really hurt that much, does it?"

"It's fine. I've felt worse."

"I'd feel terrible if something happened to you on my property, knowing I was just inside the house."

"I just fell out of a tree. It's my own fault. I wasn't concentrating."

"You know, kid, you don't always have to be so…selfless. I mean, you didn't _have_ to climb that tree just because you could. You didn't _have_ to take those bullets for me, back in Sokovia."

"Is that what this is about? I thought we'd moved past that."

"You're just a kid yourself. You shouldn't feel like you have to help everyone all the time-"

"I'll be eighteen in July. I'm old enough to make my own decision. And I guess I feel like I still owe the world a debt. I was on Ultron's side. I fought against the Avengers. I still feel a need to compensate for that-so I can show the world I'm not all bad."

"Let me say this once and once only-any debt you owed the world is paid in full-with some extra. You-and your sister-risked everything to save the world. You put your lives in danger just like the rest of us. You fought like Avengers and you earned the right to be Avengers. And that's something you can be proud of."

"Don't worry about a broken arm. It happens to everyone-even people who don't save the world for a living. I'll be fine. You've...done so much for us. You gave us a place to stay when we didn't have anywhere else to go and people we could think of as family when we didn't have anyone else to turn to. I'd almost forgotten what that felt like."

"Hey, you're part of the family now-even though you aren't our blood relatives. You and Wanda are always welcome at the farm. You don't even have to call ahead-just show up whenever. I'm going to be spending a lot more time at home now. After Sokovia…I realized just how lucky I am to have everything I have. I don't want to take it for granted. So we'll be there, if either of you ever need anything. And I'm sure I don't have to tell you how much the kids completely and totally adore you both. You're like the older siblings they've never had."

Just then, a nurse with a green clipboard and a perpetually impatient look in her eyes came into the room. "Pietro Maximoff?"

~IT~

That 'little walk' Wanda had volunteered to take ended up being a two hour guided tour through all the ins and outs of the hospital-led by Cooper, who now considered himself an expert.

"And this is the chapel. This is where people come to pray when their loved ones are sick." he said simply, indicating a nice little sitting area with a few kneelers and stained glass windows of angels and saints.

"Do you mind if we stay in here for a minute?" Wanda asked, taking a seat next to a picture of St. Francis. She wasn't super religious; of course, her parents had raised her to be Jewish and she tried to light Sabbath candles every week, but she didn't pray every day and she almost never found time to go to a synagogue. Still, she figured sending up a prayer every now and then wouldn't hurt. _Help me to be a better sister. Help me to stop Pietro before he does dumb things. Help me to be more understanding and caring so I can be a good role model to Lila, Cooper, and Nathaniel. Help me to always be able to protect them; help me to be a good Avenger. And please…don't take him-or any of them-away from me too soon._

Just then, her cell phone chimed with an incoming text. Pulling it out, she read _Pietro done. Lower arm broken, going to need a cast for three weeks. Meet up at front doors?_

 _On our way._ "Come on." she said, leading the others out of the chapel. "Let's go see Pietro's new cast."

"He got a cast?" Lila cried. "Can we sign it?"

Wanda laughed. "Yes, I'm sure Pietro would be delighted if you sign it."

~IT~

Once everyone had finally gotten situated in the car-Cooper and Lila had refused to buckle up until they'd both signed Pietro's new cast at least twice-Clint started the drive home at a much slower pace. Wanda couldn't help breathing a subconscious sigh of relief as they left the hospital far in the distance.

"What are you thinking about?" Pietro asked, following her line of sight.

"I'm just glad you're all right."

"Everyone is acting like I got shot. Really, it's just a broken arm."

"I know. I just…worry sometimes."

"You worry more than you should. I'm not that reckless."

"I should have used my powers. It would have been the perfect opportunity…"

"Wanda, it was my choice. You're blaming yourself, aren't you?"

"Of course not."

"Don't lie to me. You blame yourself."

"Well…maybe."

"Don't do that. It was not your fault. Sure, you're going to have to put up with a lot these next few weeks while I'm in the cast, but it wasn't your fault. Understand? Between you and Clint, there's far more unnecessary guilt in this house than there should be…all I'm saying is, you had nothing to do with what happened. No one blames you. Just because something bad happens to me doesn't mean you failed in your duty as my sister. You could never do that. You know that, right?"

She actually smiled for the first time all day. "I know."

And she did, really-even though she didn't always admit it. Just then, her phone rang with another text. She read it quickly, trying not to smile. "I just realized something."

"Yeah?"

"You can't break up crime rings with a broken arm."

"So what do you mean-"

"Looks like the Bartons are going to be stuck with us for another few weeks."

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	9. A Day Out

**Hey everybody! New chapter!**

 **This chapter is based on a prompt from SisterWiccanGrimm13. Keep the prompts coming-I'm always open to new ideas! As for the ones I already have, I will get to them all in the near future.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! They really make my day :)**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

"You're kidding me, right?" Clint went through the pantry, looking for more coffee packets. It looked like they were out-again. "Pietro? Did you drink all the coffee?"

Pietro glanced up from where he was building Legos with Cooper. "Well, probably not all of it…but maybe a good part of it."

"I just got more last week! How on earth can you have gotten through all of it so fast?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? Fast metabolism."

Clint shook his head. "Fine-but I just got some last time. You can go drive into town today and pick some more up-along with the rest of the stuff we're running low on because you ate it already."

"I don't know if that's a good idea-"

"Of course it is. Why don't you take the kids with you? It'll get you out of the house for the day." There had been another small heat wave and everyone was going stir crazy.

Pietro still didn't think Clint was thinking this through. "Are you sure we should-"

"Yeah. It'll be fine. The grocery store is just a forty minute drive. You can go to the store, get some lunch or something, maybe walk around…it'll be great."

 _Easy for you to say._ "As you wish. I still think you trust us too much."

"Surprise me. And don't forget to bring a lot of coffee."

~IT~

Twenty minutes later, Pietro, Wanda, Cooper, and Lila were ready to go shopping. They were on the road to town, passing acres of deserted countryside and rolling fields of corn and wheat. Pietro happened to be in the driver's seat, since his arm was getting a lot better. He blasted pop music and Cooper and Lila sang along at the top of their lungs (because of course they knew all the current songs) while Wanda worked on the morning crossword puzzle and Pietro focused on the road.

At least theoretically.

"I know thirteen across. It's 'flamenco." he said helpfully.

"Thanks." Wanda penciled it in and happened to glance up at the road. "Pietro, you're about to hit a rabbit." She said it calmly; when Pietro was in the driver's seat, there tended to be a lot of near death crashes.

Pietro swore and swerved-narrowly avoiding both the rabbit and a nasty trip off road.

"Mom says you're not supposed to use words like that." Cooper said.

"Your mother has probably never almost run over a rabbit before." Pietro answered. "Wanda, fifteen down is 'chalet'."  
"Would you focus on the road?" Wanda asked. "I'm pretty sure I can handle the crossword on my own, but I appreciate your concern."

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Fine." He turned to the kids in the backseat. "Do you want to see how fast this thing can go?"

"Pietro, no. We're not going to-"

He floored the accelerator and they shot forward like a bullet. Pretty soon, Lila wasn't the only one screaming. Just before they reached the road into town, Pietro eased the car back to a more reasonable speed. "How was that?"

"I think my life just flashed before my eyes."

"That was awesome!" Cooper cried. "Can we do it again?"

"Not right now-but maybe on the way home." Pietro replied. "Do the two of you want to help us pick up groceries?"

"Yeah!" Lila said. "Can I push the cart?"

"Sure." And with that they headed into the grocery store and the air conditioning hit them like a wave of cold water.

Wanda had pulled out the starter list Laura had given her. "Okay, so first we need some fruit…it just says 'assorted'. Cooper, what does that mean?"

"It means whatever we want. Can we get bananas? Those are my favorite." he said, handing her a bunch of slightly green (but mostly yellow) fruits.

"Strawberries!" Lila cried. She also picked out some nectarines, plums, apples, and a watermelon that was almost as big as her head.

"Are you sure we need all of those?" Wanda asked. Their cart was already half full. "How about we get rid of a couple?"

"Okay. Put the bananas away, Cooper."

"Hey!" Cooper cried. "No. Let's put away the nectarines. We just got some of those. And there are apple trees near the house."

Reluctantly, Lila put the rest of the fruits back where they should be. "What's next?"

Wanda scanned the list. "Peanut butter."

"I know where that is! I go grocery shopping with Mama sometimes after kindergarten. Can I go get it, Wanda?"

"Sure. Just come right back, okay?"

Lila nodded happily and skipped off. Cooper waited patiently for his task.

"Do you know where the chili powder is?" Wanda asked. "We need two packets of it."

"I'll find it." Cooper said, trailing after his sister.

"They're really helpful." Pietro said, grabbing a bag of string beans.

"I know. It's amazing. I know you were never this helpful when we went grocery shopping back home."

"I can't remember the last time we actually went grocery shopping." What Pietro did remember was the first time he'd set foot in a grocery store after the battle of Sokovia. All those shelves that were filled with every kind of food imaginable…he'd been convinced he was dead and in heaven. This store was a little smaller than the one the Avengers usually shopped at, but it still looked like it was in no danger of running out of food.

Just then, Lila came back to the cart holding a jar of peanut butter. "Is this right?"

"Yeah. That looks really good. Would you like to get some eggs now? Remember to be careful with them." Lila nodded in understanding and raced off again.

They slowly worked their way down the list-Laura wanted a lot of ingredients. Cooper and Lila took turns getting things-and they didn't break a single thing.

"Can we get ice cream?" Lila asked, looking at a particularly appetizing carton of rocky road from the other side of the plastic barrier in the freezer aisle.

"Not right now." Wanda said, reaching past her to grab some chicken wings.

"Aw. Why not?"

"I don't see it on the list."

"We can get some. Mama isn't going to mind."

"Are you sure about that?" Pietro asked.

"Yeah…" Lila was actually a pretty convincing liar, he would give her that.

"Not today, Lila. Maybe next time."

By the time they'd gotten everything on the list, their shopping cart was practically filled to bursting. It took them almost ten minutes just to get checked out-and suddenly the sheer number of reusable grocery bags Laura had given them for the trip made sense. Finally, the car was loaded up and they had everything they needed.

Except for one thing.

Pietro was cruising the streets, looking for a place they could stop for lunch. "Hey, did we remember to get coffee?"

"I thought that was your job." Wanda replied.

"Well I don't have any offhand."

"I guess we'll have to go back and get some."

Pietro sighed and turned the car around.

~IT~

"What's your dad's favorite kind of coffee?" Pietro asked, examining the rows and rows of coffee packets lined up before him. There seemed to be an absolutely endless supply.

Lila shrugged. "I don't know. I think he likes any kind."

"As long as it isn't decaf." Cooper added.

"Okay then." Pietro began to randomly select kinds of coffee, setting them in the back of the cart one by one. _Breakfast Blend…Chocolate Hazelnut…White Chocolate Caramel…that sounds really good….Red Velvet. I wonder what that tastes like._ He probably got way more coffee than he needed to, but he wanted to be safe-and besides, there were way too many amazing flavors to choose from.

As it happened, the cashier who checked them out was the cashier who had checked them out not ten minutes previously. He didn't even bat an eye when he looked at all the coffee they were placing onto the conveyor belt. "Planning to start a coffee shop?" he asked as he started to bag things.

"No. We just like to try new things." Pietro answered. It wasn't until he was holding the three full bags of coffee blends that he realized he might have gone just a little bit overboard. "Cooper, I know what you should get your father for Father's Day."

"What is it?" Cooper asked, examining a mix named Chocolate Caramel Oreo Hazelnut.

"A Starbucks gift card."

~IT~

They ended up getting a little lunch at a small deli tucked in between two dress shops. It had become a nice day outside; although it was starting to warm up it wasn't so hot that everyone wished they were inside in front of a fan. The town also had a small lake that could be used for swimming. It wasn't very busy at 11 o'clock on a Monday morning, so the twins decided they had time to spend a little time on the beach and dip their feet in.

Of course, Cooper and Lila ran straight for the water.

"Don't get yourselves super wet!" Pietro cried. He didn't think water could possibly be good for the leather interior of Clint's car.

"We won't!" Cooper said, stopping just near the tide line. The water hit the sandy beach in soft waves that made Lila shriek with pleasure as they ran over her feet.

"It's cold!" she cried, dancing away from the water's touch.

Pietro and Wanda found a little grassy hillock where they could watch the kids at play. Pietro was still wearing his cast and couldn't get it wet: a fact he really resented.

"This feels nice." Wanda said as a wayward breeze blew over the lake.

Pietro nodded. "Yes. Do you think we got enough coffee?"

"I'm sure we did. You'll be busy for at least another two weeks."

"You know we have to start high school next year, right?" School had been weighing heavily on Pietro's mind ever since the twins had been told they would have to finish out their senior year. And then there would be college to consider…it made Pietro's head hurt just thinking about it.

"Yeah. How are you feeling about that?"

"How are we going to fit in? I mean, I have super speed and you have telekinesis. Chances are, someone will see something they aren't supposed to. Not just that, but we haven't been to school in years. Years. What if we're not up to speed or something?"

"It's just for one year. And I'm sure we'll be fine-whether or not we fit in. We have each other, right? What more do we need?"

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

"Besides, it's still June. We don't need to worry about it for a long time yet."

Just then, Lila ran up to them. She was wet up to her knees, but all her clothing was dry-for the moment. "Wanda, come play with us!"

"Okay." She stood up, glancing back at Pietro as if to say _Can you handle yourself for twenty minutes without doing anything stupid?_

 _Of course I can._ Which was probably a lie, but he didn't really care.

For the next twenty minutes, he watched the others play in the waves. They laughed and shouted as they splashed in the shallows, inspected tide pools, and built sand castles. Pietro didn't realize just how long had passed until he happened to glance at his watch display.

They'd been out for almost six hours.

Quickly he texted Clint. _Took a little detour. Be home shortly._ The wind was starting to pick up and the clouds in the distance looked pretty threatening. "Guys, come on! We should head home!"

Reluctantly, they went to meet him. Everyone was just a little wet and a little sandy; Pietro made them all wash up before they headed back to the car. He'd managed to park it in a parking garage so all their food wasn't totally spoiled.

"Pietro, can you take a picture of us?" Lila asked. She was standing in front of the car, a little burnt and a little wet but still smiling broadly. Cooper was standing next to her, examining a few cool stones he'd found in some tide pools.

"Sure. Wanda, go stand by them." Once everyone was in frame, he pulled out his phone and clicked a picture. He looked at the final product-all three of them looked carefree and happy, even Wanda. It was amazing what just a few weeks without constant peril could do for you.

There were definitely things in the world worth protecting-no matter what the personal cost.

And innocence was definitely one of them.

"All right-get in." He unlocked the car and turned on the radio. Fall Out Boy blasted out at them-the perfect soundtrack to what would be a truly amazing and probably death defying trip back to the house.

Cooper and Lila didn't stop talking the entire way home. Pietro had fun listening to all the funny stories they knew and barely stopped laughing-although he nearly hit a deer, a bird, a pothole, and a broken stop sign before they got to the house. "Have a good day?" he asked Wanda, who was fitting the last few answers into her crossword puzzle.

She nodded. "It was perfect." Pietro wished she could be like this all the time-happy and guilt free, like a normal almost-eighteen year old should be. But they'd seen too much for that ever to be possible. They'd lost too many things.

In a few weeks they'd be back at the Avengers base-ready to get back to the business of saving the world. Pietro loved being an Avenger and loved feeling that he really had a place in the world where he belonged. He was excited to go back-

-but for right now, this wasn't so bad.

Just then, Wanda's cell rang and she answered it almost curiously. "Yes?" She listened for a few minutes, nodded happily, and said "Okay. See you then." She pressed the End Call button and returned to her crossword puzzle as though nothing had happened.

"Are you going to tell me what that was all about?"

"It's Vision-he's busting a group of arms dealers in the next state and he thought he'd stop by for a few days because he goes back to the base. He said he already checked with Clint, and it works out really well."

"Oh. So Vision is coming to visit?" _Great. Of course this day had to get ruined somehow._

"Yes. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Sure." _This'll be interesting._

 **Vision will be making an appearance in the next few chapters!**

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	10. A New Guest

**Hi everybody! Sorry about the wait. I'm one of those writers who has a lot of writing projects going on at once and I was working on some of those for quite a while.**

 **This chapter is based off a prompt from Crazed Fangirl13.**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

 **Enjoy!**

The next morning the sky opened up and poured, relieving the heat wave that had covered the farm and the surrounding area for the better part of two weeks. Laura took the opportunity to make Cooper and Lila clean up their toys and get the house ready for Vision's visit.

"What's Vision like?" Lila asked. Of course, the twins had told her stories about the android before but she was still very curious. Then again, Pietro didn't blame her. It wasn't every day you got to meet a living and sentient robot.

"He's nice." he answered vaguely, dusting the high mantelpiece above the fireplace.

"Does he have superpowers like you and Wanda?"

"In a way. He's very smart and he can shoot rays of light out of the gem in the center of his head."

"He has a jewel in his head?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Pietro hadn't really seen Vision that much since they'd started their training at the new Avengers base. They always seemed to be in different training groups or on different missions. And even when they happened to be picking up their morning cups of coffee at the same time, they still didn't talk a lot. They didn't have much in common; Pietro could be reckless and impulsive while Vision was always thoughtful and controlled. "I'm sure Wanda probably knows more about him than I do." He didn't like it, but she probably did.

He knew that his sister was excited-even more than she let on. And he was fine with that….mostly. _Just so long as Vision doesn't get any…ideas._

That night over a dinner of freshly grilled brats and corn on the cob, Cooper and Lila begged Clint to retell them the story of the Battle of Sokovia and how Vision had come to be.

"Are you sure you really want to hear it again?" Clint asked. Pietro got the feeling this was a common request.

Cooper nodded. "We never get tired of it, do we Lila?"

Lila shook her head. "Nope!"

The way Clint told the story when he was talking to his kids was a little different from the way events had actually played out, for obvious reasons. He completely left out the part about him almost getting shot and Pietro dying (long story), which everyone was fine with. This time, he focused more on Vision's story: how he was meant to be a supreme copy of Ultron but instead had turned out to be one of the Avengers' most powerful allies. By the time he was finished, Cooper and Lila were practically bouncing off the walls in anticipation for the next day's meeting.

Vision was set to arrive early the next morning-which meant he interfered with Pietro's all important sleep schedule. He hated waking up early-for anything. Unfortunately, he was up at five the next morning when Cooper and Lila woke up at the crack of dawn and couldn't fall back to sleep. Of course, when they got up so did everyone else.

"Can Vision fly?" Cooper asked. He was perched on the kitchen counter with a bowl of cereal, watching Pietro make a cup of strong coffee.

"Yes." Pietro replied. "He's very good at it."

"Is he coming in costume or is he going to be wearing civilian clothes like you were?"

"I don't know."

"I can't wait. I've never met an actual android before. Is he nice?"

"Yeah. He's very formal, though-like one of those English butlers in the movies your mother likes to watch. Did you know that before he was Vision he was-"

"J.A.R.V.I.S? Yeah. Dad told me."

Just then Lila came tearing in, her socks slipping and sliding on the kitchen's worn tile. "He's coming!"

True to form, the doorbell rang about five minutes later. Vision stood on the doorstep, wearing a pair of jeans and a carefully selected Fall Out Boy t-shirt in an attempt to look somewhat normal. Pietro had to admit that it wasn't half bad-but his red skin (protective casing?) tended to offset all of that. "Hello, Cooper and Lila."

"Hi!" Lila said happily. "You're Vision, right?"

"Yes, I am. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"You too. Look-these are my barbies." She held up a handful of dolls, all dressed in princess dresses of various colors.

"Interesting. They had dolls like that at the store I went to yesterday, but I wasn't completely sure what they were for. Do they have names?"

"Yeah. This is Lily, Violet, Maria, Rose, Margaret, Sue…"

"Now you've got her started." Pietro said, giving the android a quick smile as he took another sip of coffee. "Can I get you some coffee?"

"I'm afraid I've already had my daily cup. I found a very interesting coffee shop with many different flavors of the drink. I believe it was called Starbucks." Vision replied.

 _Of course it was._ "Did you get an interesting flavor?"

"Not really. Is there somewhere I can put this?" He indicated a small duffel bag Pietro hadn't noticed at first.

"Yeah." Cooper said. "Dad wasn't sure if you needed sleep, but you can stay in the second guest bedroom if you want to." He led the way into the house, keeping up a steady stream of conversation all the while. "This used to be the dining room, but Dad got rid of it when he made the guest room and the living room. He said no one needs a dining room. Everyone eats in a kitchen anyway…"

Just then, Wanda came downstairs. She was fastening the last of the three necklaces she always wore around her neck. It had been their mother's; in fact, it was one of the only things they'd managed to salvage from the bombing. "Is Vision here yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's just getting set up-Wanda, did you curl your hair?"

"…Maybe. Does this shirt go with my skirt? I wasn't sure; you know I've never been good with those sort of things-"

"It looks fine. What's the big deal?"

She rolled her eyes. "Never mind." Pietro knew there was something going on that he didn't quite get yet. He hated when that happened.

Just then, Cooper and Vision came back. "I was just going to show Vision around the property." Cooper explained. "Do you guys want to come?"

"Yeah!" Lila said. "I want to show him the flower garden!" She ran out the door and down the front walk, leaving the others to catch up.

Vision fell in step next to the twins. "Hello, Wanda. I don't believe I had the chance to say hello when I arrived."

"Yeah, I was just getting ready. So, how are things back at the base?"

"The base is operating quite well. It's very undisturbed-like this place. The others give their best regards."

"And how was the mission?"

"It got a little touch and go for a while, but eventually I was able to persevere. And how is your gunshot wound? Is it healing properly?" Pietro was surprised to hear genuine concern in the android's voice.

"Yes. In fact, I have a doctor's appointment in two weeks. If all goes well, it will be the last one." No one was more excited about this fact then Wanda; she was really starting to hate bandages.

Pietro decided to steer the conversation to a more lighthearted topic. "So, what was the mission like?"

Vision launched into a detailed description of everything that had happened over the past few weeks. Pietro almost felt jealous hearing it; Vision was out in the world stopping drug rings and being a real superhero and here he was, babysitting. Yes, the circumstances were different-he was still wearing an arm cast and Wanda hadn't yet been cleared by the doctors, but he felt he should be doing _something_ to help out. He was an Avenger, after all. He didn't want the others to give his position on the team away because he was never around to use it.

Eventually, talk turned to plans for the rest of the summer and Wanda and Vision got into a very involved conversation about airplanes. Pietro couldn't help feeling like the odd one out; he could barely get a word in edgewise. It didn't seem to matter; the others were barely paying attention to him. It was like he was just an annoying fly that they couldn't seem to shake off.

Pietro was a lot of things, but annoying was not one of them.

 _This is going to be a long day._

~IT~

Pietro had hoped things would get better when they got back to the house. Unfortunately, Wanda and Vision didn't want to go back-instead, they wanted to take a walk around the edge of the property. And it was obvious they wanted to do it alone.

Of course, Pietro wouldn't let that happen.

"Cooper needs help on his workbook page." he said to Wanda just before she and Vision could leave again.

"Can't you help him yourself?" Wanda asked. It was clear she wanted to get going.

"No. It's long division. You know how terrible I am at that." It was why he'd failed fourth grade math.

Wanda sighed. "I'll be right back, Vizh." She followed Pietro inside-only to find Cooper playing Fruit Ninja on the iPad while Lila played with her barbies on the living room carpet. "Cooper certainly doesn't look like he's working on a workbook."

"Hmm. I could have sworn-"

"You're a really terrible liar. Can I go now?"

"Actually, I also have to-"

"You're just making this stuff up off the top of your head, aren't you?"

He sighed, trying to think of something to say that would actually make sense.

"Thought so. See you later, Pietro. I'm bringing my phone, in case you need to get ahold of me for some reason-but only in an emergency. And Lila not being able to find her white sandals is not an emergency."

 _Dang it._ "I still don't think you should go."

She stopped in the room's doorway, one hand on the doorknob. "Why not?"

"I don't trust him."

"Why don't you trust him? Vision is a member of the team."

"Yes, but he's also a robot. Made from Ultron. What if he…turns bad or something like that?"

"He won't. Trust me."

"But he could. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"You're being overprotective again, aren't you?"

"No, of course not."

She sighed. "Pietro, I appreciate the concern, but I can take care of myself. It's just a walk. It's not like we're doing anything wrong. Just once around the property and then we'll come back."

Pietro knew it shouldn't have been a big deal. And yet he was still upset-even if he couldn't exactly understand why himself. It annoyed him-and when something annoyed him he tended to snap without realizing it. "I'm terrible at long division."

"I'm sure you'll be able to handle it. Pietro, is something else bothering you? You're not usually like this."

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I just don't think it's a good idea-"

"I trust Vision. I've seen into his mind. He's not like what you would expect. He truly is on the side of life, Pietro. He's not going to turn on us."

"Yes, but how can we be sure?"

"I have to trust him. Because sometimes that's all we can do." Slowly, she turned the doorknob. "Can I go now?"

"Fine. But if anything…weird happens, I want you to tell me right away when you get back. Understand?"

She nodded. "Understood." And with that she left. Pietro watched out the window as she practically flew down the porch steps to join Vision on the gravel path that snaked its way around the edge of the property. For once, his little sister was taking steps before he was. For once, she was entering a world where he couldn't follow her.

~IT~

Wanda and Vision returned an hour later, talking and laughing. Pietro was too busy playing barbies with Lila to say hello to them, but he kept an eye on the way they interacted-the easy way they laughed, the way they never seemed to run out of things to talk about.

The rest of the day was relatively normal. Vision, Clint, and Cooper went into town to pick up some essentials from the grocery store (Clint didn't trust Pietro anymore since he'd come home with two bags full of different coffees), Wanda and Lila helped Laura with a little bit of light cleaning, and Pietro spent some time mowing the lawn. It was a hot day-luckily, whenever he thought he was too tired to go on Wanda always came out with a pitcher of ice cold lemonade.

"Thanks." he said, draining his cup in two large swallows.

"Of course. You sure you're okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine. Really. So, how was your walk?"

"Good. Listen…I just thought you should know that I'm going into town tomorrow to get coffee-with Vision."

Pietro accidentally spat out the rest of his lemonade in his surprise. " _What?"_

"There's this little coffee shop down near the lakeshore I've been dying to try-"

"And you didn't even think to ask me first?"

"Since when are you in charge of organizing my life?"

"Well, you could have at least told me you were going on a date-"

"It's not a date. We're just friends."

"That's what they all say."

She rolled her eyes. "I just need you to promise me that you won't interfere."

"No matter how much I want to?"

"Pietro, this is something normal people our age do. I know we'll never be normal, but…it would be nice to try."

She had him. "Fine. I won't interfere."

"Good. Here, let me fill this back up for you." She went back inside with his empty cup while Pietro went to wash himself down. Somehow, he'd managed to get lemonade all over his shirt. His mind was going at about one thousand miles per hour, trying to devise a plan.

He'd said he wouldn't interfere on this not-date. He hadn't said anything about chaperoning from a distance.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	11. Coffee Shops and Secret Missions

**Hi everybody! As you can probably tell, this is going to be a follow up to last chapter. This chapter specifically is based on a prompt by Guest.**

 **I'm so glad to hear that everyone is enjoying the story so far :) Thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. You guys are amazing!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

 **Enjoy!**

Pietro's first order of business was finding a reason to drive into town the next morning. Luckily, he had two eager volunteers who were ready and willing to help him with the mission.

"Do you guys want to go swimming in the lake tomorrow?" he asked Cooper and Lila later that night as they played soccer in the backyard. Wanda and Vision were helping Clint with something in the barn; with Pietro's bad arm, he wasn't much use.

Cooper nodded. "Can we bring our swimming suits this time?"

"Of course-but listen, we can't tell Wanda where we're going, okay?"

"Why not?" Lila asked.

"Because it's a surprise. It's going to be our little secret. Can the two of you keep secrets?"

They both nodded. "I'm really good at keeping secrets." Lila said.

Phase one was complete.

~IT~

"It's supposed to be really hot tomorrow. It says it could get up into the high eighties." Pietro said innocently. He was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table, while Clint washed dishes.

"It's summer. It gets hot sometimes." Clint replied.

"I was just thinking that, since it's so hot, Cooper and Lila might want to go swimming."

"That's what the pond is for."

"Yeah, but I thought they might want a change of scenery. Is it all right if I take them out to the lake for a few hours?"

"Why would they need to go to the lake?"

"I don't know. I just thought it might be fun. We could make a little day trip out of it-just me and them. We'll get out of your hair."

"Hmm. Well, coincidentally, that also happens to be the same day your sister and Vision are going out to get coffee."

"Interesting. I didn't realize that."

"I trust you don't plan on…interfering?"

"Of course not. I told Wanda I wouldn't."

Clint rolled his eyes. "You found a loophole, didn't you?"

"…Possibly."

"Fine. You guys can go as long as you don't do anything reckless or stupid."

"I never do anything that's in any way reckless or stupid."

"Really? Because I can recall quite a few times when-"

Pietro stood up abruptly. "You know, I just realized I have quite a lot to do to get ready for tomorrow. You did say we could go, right?"

"Don't make me regret this, kid."

"And why on earth would I do that?" Pietro tried not to look too happy.

Phase two was complete.

~IT~

"Wanda, how long does it take someone to take a shower?" Pietro was beginning to lose track of how long he'd spent outside the bathroom door, waiting for his turn to get ready for the day.

"Just a minute!" his sister called. Pietro sighed and sat back to wait yet again; thankfully, he heard the water click off a few minutes later.

Of course, Wanda had to spend half an hour doing her hair. Pietro was just considering grabbing his copy of A Game of Thrones just so he would have some way to pass the time and do something productive. That was a pretty huge book-and Wanda said they just got longer and longer as you went on. She was two books ahead of him and was always threatening to spoil things for him if he annoyed her.

Finally, she came out wearing a red sundress and a black shrug. "How do I look? Too formal?"

"No, you look fine." Wanda was hardly ever nervous, but now she looked like she was going to throw up. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah. Fine. Just nervous."

"Why? This is Vision we're talking about."

"You'll understand when you're older."

"Have fun today."

She managed a smile. "Thanks. I hope everything goes well."

"I'm sure it will." Hopefully, it won't go too well. Pietro didn't know if he was ready to think up another plan for the second date.

~IT~

The plan was set in action as soon as Wanda and Vision left. Pietro waited about five or ten minutes before asking Cooper and Lila if they were ready to go. He noticed Laura and Clint exchange a look, although he tried to tune them out. He was on a schedule-and he was very nearly late.

Thirty minutes later they were in the car on the way to town, toting a beach bag filled with swimsuits, goggles, and sand toys. Pietro wanted to speed the whole way there, but he decided that would be irresponsible and exactly the kind of thing Clint had told him not to do. He also didn't want to get pulled over. So, reluctantly, he stayed below the speed limit and they got there forty five minutes later-right on schedule.

He stopped the car outside the coffee shop and turned so that he was facing Cooper and Lila. "Okay, do you want to hear the real reason for our little trip?"

"Aren't we going swimming?" Lila asked.

"Of course. But we're going to do a few things first-and I need your help." He pointed to the coffee shop. "My sister is in there and I want to keep an eye on her. I also don't want her to know that I'm here."

"So you're going to be like a secret agent?" Cooper asked.

"…Yes, exactly. Would the two of you like to be secret agents too?"

"Yeah! Can I have a taser, a grappling hook, and some of those shoes that walk on walls?"

"…I don't have that kind of tech. And besides, it's not that kind of mission."

"Oh. Well, can we pretend it is?"

"Sure. Let's see…" He glanced back into the coffee shop. Other than Wanda and Vision, it wasn't too crowded. There were a few people at other tables, drinking cups of coffee and reading the newspaper. "I'm going to get closer. I need the two of you to make sure she doesn't notice I'm here."

"What should we do if we need to get your attention?"

"Hoot like an owl."

The atrium of the coffee shop was in a separate alcove than the rest of the restaurant, which was the only thing that made it possible for Pietro to work his way around to the back without being noticed. He pretended to be examining a case of bagels while he glanced at Wanda and Vision's table, trying to discern what was going on. They were talking-of that he was certain-and they were both smiling. Unfortunately, he was too far away to hear what they were talking about.

Just then, he heard someone clear their throat. The clerk behind the cash register was looking at him impatiently, as if to ask _Well? Are you buying something or not?_

Quickly, Pietro picked out three muffins at random, paid for his purchases and ran out to the car where Cooper and Lila were waiting for him eagerly. "Good job." he said, handing them each a muffin and keeping the other for himself.

"What were they doing?" Cooper asked.

"Just talking. We'll check back in a little while." It was starting to get hot out and the beach was starting to sound more and more appealing.

Unfortunately, Pietro still had his cast-which made it almost impossible for him to play in the water with Cooper and Lila. He ended up finding a bench with a view of both the coffee shop and the lake so he could watch everyone at once and read his book at the same time.

They spent almost two hours at the lake until Cooper and Lila finally got bored. They were dripping wet and laughing; Pietro realized too late that he'd forgotten sunscreen. Cooper wasn't looking too bad, but Lila had gotten a little sunburnt. _Laura is going to kill me._

All the more reason not to leave right away. Besides, Wanda was still talking to Vision-and it didn't look like they were going anywhere anytime soon.

As soon as Pietro came back after helping his charges wash off any sand that they'd picked up from playing in the water, he almost panicked when he realized that Wanda and Vision had seemingly disappeared.

"Where did they go?" Lila asked, looking into the coffee shop appraisingly.

"I'm not sure, honestly. That's what I'm trying to figure out." Just then, he thought he saw a flash of red disappear inside a nearby souvenir shop. _Found them._ He couldn't help feeling extremely proud of himself.

Of course, he couldn't go inside the store himself. That would just be asking for trouble, as the place was so small. But he was good at watching from windows. He stood on one side of the store's large glass front display case of coffee mugs, shot glasses, and baseball caps-just out of sight and in the shadow of the store's long green and white striped awning. Wanda and Vision were still talking as they roamed between the displays of merchandise for sale, never too far from each other. Pietro sensed he was fighting a losing battle.

"They're kind of cute together." Lila piped up. Both Pietro and Cooper looked down at her strangely; she didn't seem bothered. "I'm just saying. It's true."

They spent the rest of the morning wandering from one shop to the other as Vision and Wanda did. The kids were really getting in on the mission; Pietro suspected they liked to pretend they were spies. _It's not like we're doing anything wrong, either; the kids are having fun and I'm keeping my promise to Wanda._

Finally, the hour began to grow late and Pietro realized they should probably think about heading home. Laura would be starting dinner soon, and she wouldn't be happy if they were late. Besides, even Lila and Cooper were starting to get tired. They were trying to hide it, but Pietro noticed the way their feet dragged and the way they constantly kept yawning.

Finally, Lila stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and yawned loudly. "My feet hurt."

"Well, we can't have that." Pietro picked her up gently; obediently, she snuggled deeper into his chest. "How would you like a ride back to the car?"

"That sounds…nice." She was asleep within five minutes.

Pietro glanced down at Cooper. "How about you? Should we go back to the car?"

"No. I like being a secret agent."

He had to smile. The kid had resilience; he'd give him that. "Okay. Just a couple more stops."

The next store they went to ended up being a bookstore. Pietro was content with watching from out the windows as Wanda and Vision examined one rare book after another. He felt satisfied; the date had gone just as he'd planned-though it had lasted a little longer than he'd expected it to. There had been no surprises. Before he knew what was going on, he was getting distracted by a book in the front window about alchemy and magic spells.

Just then, Cooper pulled on his sleeve and hooted twice. Pietro glanced up quickly to see Wanda looking out the front window-directly at him.

He swore under his breath.

"Mom says you're not supposed to say words like that." Cooper replied automatically.

"Let's add that to the list of secrets. And now we have to get back to the car." Wanda was already starting to walk towards them-and she didn't look happy.

"We have to abort the mission?"  
"Exactly. Now hang on tight-I don't want you getting whiplash." He made sure he had a firm hold on Cooper's arm and raced back to the car. He was going to be in so much trouble-he could tell that right now.

Cooper was practically beside himself with excitement. "That was awesome! Can we do that again?"

"Maybe later. Right now, we have to get home." He made sure both kids were buckled in securely and tore out of the parking lot like the city was on fire. By pushing the speed limit, he was back in twenty seven minutes exactly.

The smell of fried fish greeted him when he walked through the front door. "Hey guys." Laura said from her place behind the stove. "Did you guys have a good time?"

"Yeah, we did." Cooper said. "We pretended we were secret agents!"

"Awesome! It looks like you tired Lila out."

"Yeah…sorry about that." Pietro replied. "I may not be down in time for dinner. I plan to barricade myself in my bedroom."

"Did Wanda find out about you?"

"…How did you know-"

"Clint told me. Let's just say you weren't the only spies in town today."

"But we never saw you-"

"My husband is a trained SHIELD agent-and he taught me a few things about stealth. I'd be very surprised if you did see us."

"If Wanda kills me-"

"We will bury the ashes accordingly."

Pietro nodded and practically ran to his room to await his fate.

~IT~

Wanda and Vision got back about an hour later. Pietro could hear them enter the house and say hello to everyone. Lila told them all about her day-although she didn't say anything about their little mission. For a little while, Pietro thought he would be okay.

And then Wanda asked the question he'd been dreading. "Where is Pietro?"

"In his room. Probably hiding." Clint said helpfully.

"Figures." He heard footsteps in the corridor; they stopped right outside his bedroom door. The doorknob turned and stuck; Pietro had locked the door twice and put a chair under the knob just for good measure. "Open this door, Pietro."

"You know what? I'm really quite comfortable where I am, although I really appreciate the concern-" he said quickly.

"Let me rephrase. Open the door or I will magic it open."

"Fine." Pietro removed the chair, undid the locks, and let Wanda come inside. "How was the date?"

"I don't know. You tell me. You saw all of it."

"I did not see all of it. Just three quarters of it."

"You said you wouldn't interfere."

"And I didn't. I just watched from a distance."

"You're despicable."

"How? I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I can take care of myself. In less than a month I'll be an adult, Pietro. I don't need your protection all the time. HYDRA is gone. They'll never bother us again."

"They already have." He didn't tell her that he often worried. _What if they try again?_

"For a long time, we just had each other. We could only have each other. But now…times are different. Times are changing. We can afford to reach out and make friends-and meet people who could potentially be more than friends. Pietro, you'll always be my brother. You'll always be the most important thing in my life and the thing that comes first in my heart-but I want to reach out, too. And, deep down, I think that's what you want to do as well."

"Stop growing up so fast."

She laughed. "How about we make a deal? I might be persuaded not to kill you if you promise never to stalk me on any of my future dates."

"I was never _stalking_ you."

"Then what were you doing?"

"…Chaperoning from a distance."

"Don't do that either. Or try to find loopholes."

"That's unfair. I love finding loopholes-"

"Pietro, this is the only offer you're going to get."

"Fine. I promise never to interfere or chaperone any of your dates. There. Is that good enough for you?"

"Yes. Now come on-that fish smells really good."

"Wait-one last thing. Are you going on another date with Vision?"

Wanda paused contemplatively for a moment. "I don't know. I would like to at some point. He's very sweet, for an android…you know what? It doesn't matter because if I ever do go on a real date I will not be telling you the time or place until it's too late for you to do anything." Quickly she turned and left, leaving Pietro no choice but to follow her. He didn't care; whatever she said, the mission had been a success.

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter; a few people had suggestions and I tried to blend them together as best I could.**

 **I watched AOU for the fourth time a couple days ago and I cried-again. Even after all this time, it still hurts. Then again, I guess that's why we have fanfiction-to correct the wrongs that canon does to us.**

 **I know I'm also behind on prompts. I will get through all of them, I promise. In the meantime, feel free to keep sending them in. I just want to make sure I don't run out of ideas later down the road.**

 **That just about covers everything. I'll close with the usual:**

 **Review, follow, and favorite!**


	12. Thunderstorm

**As you can see, the next chapter is posted :) This is just a little idea I came up with last night. It's not as long as most of my other chapters; just a little interlude.**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

Even after all this time, Pietro still hated thunderstorms.

They were too loud and too bright, lighting up the sky with flashes of lightning and shaking the world underfoot with loud peals of thunder. Of course he knew there was nothing strictly wrong with them, but they reminded him all too much of the shelling-nights spent in the makeshift bomb shelter down the street, listening to the bombs pound overhead, wondering if tonight would be the night he died-or the night their apartment building collapsed like a game of dominoes.

There was a thunderstorm outside-and it was so loud and intense it stopped him from sleeping. He tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable, but he couldn't relax while the rain and sky were fighting together and shaking the earth in their wake.

Just then, his bedroom door eased open and Wanda stepped inside. Her eyes were bleary from sleep-or lack of it. "Couldn't sleep?"

"No. Could you?" She took a seat on the edge of his bed, looking out the window at the lashing rain and roiling wind that shook the trees like they were nothing more than oversized matches. "There's a big storm out there tonight."

"Yes. I try to forget about it, but-"

"It reminds you of things you hoped you had left behind."

Pietro nodded. His sister was the one person who could understand what he was going through. She'd been with him all those nights in the bomb cellar, curled under the worn quilt that she always brought down to the shelter with her. Her grandmother had made it for her just after she was born and she'd treasured it dearly. Under the safety of the blanket they'd tried to read or play games on the iPad for hours, while their parents talked in low voices and bombs levelled the city above their heads. When daylight came they had emerged like people seeing the sunlight for the first time, timid and afraid to see what damage the bombs had caused. There was always something new-a building had fallen in overnight or the city marketplace had been bombed until it was no longer recognizable. Sometimes there were corpses too, of those who hadn't reached shelter in time. Once the twins had found the corpse of a little girl, even younger than themselves, floating in the same pond where they'd gone swimming and fed ducks once upon a time. It had made Pietro sick-as soon as he'd gotten back to the relative safety of their apartment he'd vomited into the bathtub. After a while his house, which had seemed like a safe haven to him for his entire life, began to stop feeling so safe. At any time, a bomb could come and demolish everything-and everyone-he held dear.

Even now, in the safety of Avengers Tower or the new base, he still woke from nightmares sometimes. He still worried about attacks from HYDRA or other foes-foes they didn't even know they had. He worried about dying. He worried about leaving Wanda behind-or vice versa.

"I don't think I'll be able to get any more sleep tonight. How about we get some hot chocolate and watch a movie or something?" He got up and pulled on a pair of socks. Even though it was high summer, he could still feel the chill of the floor seeping into his feet.

"Sounds good." They crept quietly into the kitchen, careful not to wake anyone. As soon as they were ready, Wanda flipped on the light and pulled out all the ingredients to make hot chocolate. Pietro wasn't to be trusted around ovens or other electrical household appliances unless absolutely necessary or in the case of an emergency. The light was glaringly bright; it took a minute for Pietro's eyes to adjust.

"Did you have any nightmares?" Wanda asked as she opened a packet of the mix.

He shrugged. "A couple." He didn't mention the fact that he saw corpses every time he closed his eyes. "Did you?"

"It doesn't matter. There are no bombs here. We'll never have to live through that again." Pietro didn't know whether she was trying to convince him or herself.

"It would be nice if I could skip the nightmares once in a while though."

"Are they that bad?"

"Sometimes they're manageable. At other times…they're terrible." That was the only problem about having his own room two floors away from his sister-he didn't always know when she was having the nightmares and as such he wasn't always able to be there and comfort her. He tried as hard as he could but he knew there were some nights he missed.

"They'll go away." Even he didn't believe that. Ever since the revolution started when he was six years old, nightmares had been a constant in his life-just like change. It seemed like every time he was finished settling in one place something happened that uprooted him completely and changed everything.

"Yeah, maybe." The kettle started to whistle and she poured a few cups of steaming liquid. She grabbed the bag of marshmallows left over from their camping trip, placed a few in hers and a few in Pietro's, and handed him his mug. "Here you go."

"Thanks." They sat in silence at the table, drinking their beverages in silence as the storm raged outside with a renewed fury. _You can't get to us in here,_ Pietro thought almost defiantly. _Just try._

Suddenly, the door eased open on quiet hinges and Cooper stepped into the warm light of the kitchen, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "What are you guys doing?"

The twins exchanged a glance. "The storm woke us up." Pietro said finally. "We couldn't sleep. What about you?"

"Same. Why is it so loud out there? It's like we're living inside a castle and a giant is throwing rocks to try and get in." Cooper shivered and looked at the door distrustfully, as though at any minute it could come crashing down and a monster would come inside.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." Wanda explained. "It's all just hard science-just light and sound. There aren't really any monsters out there-although I know it can seem like that on cold and rain nights like these. Would you like some hot chocolate?"

Cooper nodded eagerly. "Were you guys scared of the thunder? I wasn't. It was just loud. It woke me up."

"Thunder tends to do that sometimes." Pietro said. "I remember once in Sokovia there was this huge thunderstorm that I worried would bring our house down. Every clap of thunder shook the floor and rattled the dishes on the walls. I was younger than you and I was very scared, so I made a nest of blankets under my sheets and pretended I was in the keep of a castle that was impossible to break into."

Wanda picked up the tale and added "He was devoted to that castle-even after the thunderstorm. He created all manner of lords, ladies, knights, squires, and servants to live inside of it. He even drew pictures of what it would look like."

"And I was the king of everything."

Cooper sighed ruefully. "I wish I had a castle."

"You can make one if you want to. It's very easy. You just have to close your eyes and imagine everything about it-from how big it is to what's inside of it to the types of furniture and the pictures that you hang on the walls. Once you have that all sorted out, you can start to add the people."

Cooper closed his eyes diligently and Pietro could practically see the gears in his brain working as he constructed his castle bit by bit and block by block while Wanda put another scalding mug of hot chocolate in front of him.

Just then, there was a particularly loud clap of thunder that sent Lila running into the kitchen at breakneck speed. She caught herself just in time; otherwise she would have crashed into the edge of the table. She was out of breath and looked terrified.

Wanda was already starting another mug of hot chocolate. "Take a seat, Lila. We have room for one more."

"Thanks." Lila slid into an empty chair next to Cooper. "Princess Rainbow Unicorn got scared." She held up a stuffed white unicorn with a mane of rainbows. "We saw a light on in the kitchen and we went to see what was going on."

"It's nice of you to join us. We're just having hot chocolate and trying to forget about the storm." It still raged and howled outside, like a wolf on a cold winter's night. "I'm guessing you'd like some hot chocolate?"

"Yes, please! Can you make some for Princess Rainbow Unicorn too? She likes having hers in a saucer."

"Of course."

Cooper had finished developing the framework for his mind castle and was starting on the people, going step by step using Pietro's careful coaching. It went fine until he almost dropped his hot chocolate because he was so busy concentrating-after that, Wanda suggested they pause the lesson and pick it up another day.

"Can you tell us a story?" Lila said as she finished the last of her hot chocolate.

"Now it's Pietro's turn to tell the story." Wanda said purposefully.

Pietro groaned. "Fine. What story do you want me to tell? And no Lila, I am not telling the story of Princess Rainbow Unicorn vs. Pegasus Fairy Princess."

"Go with a folk tale. Those are easy."

He took a minute to collect his thoughts and think of what to say. Eventually, he remembered a story his mother used to tell him on cold winter nights-in fact, he had to stretch so far back in his memory that he wasn't quite sure he was getting all the story's details right-but he pretended he was and Cooper and Lila would never have to know. He spun a web of castles and haunted forests, ghosts and knights, and they seemed to love it.

Finally, once all the hot chocolate cups had been cleared away they went into the living room to watch a movie. Everyone made themselves comfortable on the couch and chairs scattered throughout the room while Cooper put the disc into the Blu-ray player and got everything set up. Out of the four of them, Cooper was hands down the best at using technology of any brand, shape, or form.

They settled down to watch in silence, periodically turning the movie up louder so as to drown out the maelstrom outside. It seemed to work; Cooper and Lila slowly began to relax until they were fighting to stay awake. Lila was the first to succumb to sleep again but Cooper soon followed. The twins made sure they got back to bed, that Lila had Princess Rainbow Unicorn close by in case the stuffed animal was needed, and they didn't have any telltale hot chocolate stains on their clothes. Once they were finished with all of that, the thunderstorm had begun to lose its fervor. By the time the movie's credits began to roll, the thunder was just an indistinct rumble in the distance and the lightning no longer lit up the night like the rising sun.

"We're going to be really tired tomorrow." Pietro said, sprawled out on one of the leather couches that faced the room's TV set.

"You can say that again. But who cares? We can always blame the storm."

"Yeah. You know, I almost envy them. They'll never have to face everything that we went through. They can have opportunities and chances we never did. They'll actually have time to be children."

"Yes. The things we saw…I wouldn't wish them upon anyone else. It's too hard to move on-and far too hard to forget."

"Maybe we don't have to. Maybe we never will-forget, I mean. But we can move past it. Things changed-mostly for the worst, but now they're finally changing for the better. We got a fresh start. I suggest we use it."

Wanda nodded. "We still have a lot of things to get used to-like the fact that thunder doesn't automatically mean bombs."

Just then, Clint came downstairs. Pietro hadn't realized how late it had gotten; the first gray of dawn was beginning to tint the inky blue sky. "What are you two doing up this early?"

Pietro answered without missing a beat. "The storm woke us up. We made some hot chocolate. I hope you don't mind."

"No, that's fine-but why are there hot chocolate stains on Princess Rainbow Unicorn.

 _I knew we forgot something._ "Well…Cooper and Lila might have joined us for a little while. It's a long story…"

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	13. Father's Day

**Hi everyone!**

 **I know I should really be focusing on prompts right about now, but I celebrated Father's Day last Sunday and I thought it would be nice to add a chapter about that since the story follows the regular summer timeline and holidays for the United States.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

"Okay guys, listen up." Laura plopped a wall calendar down in the center of the kitchen table and circled a date in red pen. "Father's Day is in just a few days and we need to decide what we're doing for Clint." Clint just 'happened' to be out of the house on a coffee run because he had felt a strange and sudden urge to have an actual Starbucks latte with extra shots of caffeine and whipped cream.

"What's Father's Day?" Pietro asked.

"You've never celebrated it before?" Lila asked disbelievingly.

"No. It wasn't celebrated in Sokovia."

"It's where we do something nice for Daddy. Like we make him a card or something like that. I'm going to make him a pop up card."

"I was thinking we could go to the state park up north and have a picnic." Laura continued. "How does that sound?"

Cooper and Lila both nodded excitedly. "Can we go swimming at the lake?" Cooper asked.

"Sure." Laura hung the calendar back up in its usual place next to the phone, to make scheduling easy. "Sounds like we have a plan."

~IT~

"Would you stop squirming around so much? You're making me nervous."

"Sorry." Pietro tried to stay still and read a magazine like a normal person. There was a wide variety to choose from; the table outside the doctor's office seemed to have every kind of magazine known to man. Eventually, he settled on an entertainment rag; it wouldn't have to entertain him long, in any case. At least he'd be getting his cast off. That was something, at least. For the past three weeks he'd been completely off balance not being able to use his arm. It was strange and altogether unpleasant.

Wanda had actually thought ahead; she was reading a book she'd brought along. There was a movie coming out that the twins had been wanting to see; they were going to make an afternoon out of it and go to see it after Pietro's appointment. "So, what do you think about this 'Father's Day'?" she asked.

"It sounds interesting. Its premise sounds nice enough."

"Do you think we should make an appreciation card as well? I mean, Clint has done a lot for us over the past few months."

"I think we probably should. It takes a lot of patience to deal with you for a few hours-never mind for an entire month."

"I wouldn't say that's very fair…"

"I'm just kidding. But yes, I think a card is a very good idea. How exactly do Americans celebrate Father's Day?"

Pietro took out his iPhone and started to google it. "Already on it…there's a lot of talk about things to buy-ties and stuff like that."

"I'm sure we can find somewhere in town that sells ties. Maybe we can pick something up after the movie."

He was still scrolling through page after page of text. "There are really a lot of ideas on here…" The amount of sheer merchandising on the Internet was almost overwhelming. There was so much to consider buying.

Just then, his name was called and he had to go in for his appointment. He showed Wanda the website he'd been looking at so she could continue the search and went to get his cast taken off.

Pietro wasn't sure exactly what they would buy, but he knew it had to be perfect-or as close to perfect as it could possibly be.

~IT~

Over the next couple of day, the twins looked at and rejected one gift idea after another. Although all of them were very nice, none of them seemed right.

"What are you looking at?" Cooper asked, taking a seat next to them. It was a lazy summer afternoon; hot but not terribly so. They'd spent most of the afternoon at the 'pool'-a pond at the edge of the property that Clint and Mr. Hammond had made a few summers past. It was cool and shaded even on the hottest day and the water was cold but not freezing. Simply put, it was the best place in the world to be on a hot summer day. Pietro relished in the fact that he could actually get in the water now and they had played water games for hours on end. Of course, they would have to go home at some point and Laura didn't appreciate water on her nice wooden floors. To keep her happy, Pietro and Wanda had insisted everyone get out of the water about an hour before they would have to go back to the farm. Now they were letting themselves dry off in the summer sun. Lila was reading a book nearby-and so had Cooper, up until a few moments ago.

"Oh, nothing." Pietro quickly closed the web browser and brought up Fruit Ninja instead. "Just playing a game."

"Can I watch?"

Pietro had to keep from groaning, but he started a new round. However, he was very distracted even as he slashed through fruit after fruit thinking about more gift ideas and then rejecting them just as fast.

"You missed one." Cooper pointed to a strawberry that was falling down the edge of the screen, too far down for Pietro to catch it.

"Whoops." Pietro didn't really care.

Finally, as it started to get dark they packed up their towels and headed for home. It was a beautiful night, full of fireflies. Sometimes Cooper and Lila liked to take little glass jars and fill them with the flying bugs-they would let them go again once they'd taken significant delight in watching the way the fireflies lit up like tiny little stars. On this occasion, they were already late so they just focused on getting home as quickly they could. The twins still had no gift ideas and only two days left until the holiday.

Things could be going better.

~IT~

Later that night, once Cooper and Lila were (probably) asleep, the twins reconvened outside to make a final decision. If they wanted to buy something in town, they had one last day to make the trip.

"What are you guys doing out here this late?" Clint was heading towards the barn with his bow in hand, probably for target practice.

"Stargazing." Pietro answered automatically. Never mind that he'd looked through a telescope once and could only spot the Big Dipper-and that was only if the constellation was incredibly obvious.

"You didn't strike me as the type."

"You learn something new every day, old man."

"Fine, fine. I just know from experience that the cover of darkness can be an ideal time for plotting."

"We are certainly not plotting." Pietro fumbled to turn off his phone. That would just be inviting questions.

"Want to watch me shoot some stuff?"

The twins exchanged a glance. It had been a long day and they were both ready to stop looking at picture after picture of ties and sunglasses. "Sure."

The barn was warm and smelled heavily of hay as Pietro and Wanda found seats on a couple convenient bales near the back door. Clint pulled out three large targets, well-worn from years of use and pockmarked with tiny arrow holes. Then he turned to a small closet that Pietro had always thought held more farm equipment. Instead, it was filled with every kind of arrow known to man. "This is probably not the place to use the exploding arrows, but I still have a lot of regular ones." He notched a long black arrow fletched with white feathers. He drew back the bow, aimed directly at the center of the first target, and let the arrow go with a soft swish. It landed dead center with a soft thump and hung there, quivering. Clint loosed a couple more, hitting as near to the center as he possibly could, given the arrow still hanging loosely. He had incredible aim.

"How long did it take you to become that good?" Wanda asked.

"Years and years of daily practice. And even now there's still room for improvement."

"Do you ever run out of arrows in battle?"

"Occasionally-and then it's really interesting having to look through the corpses of aliens or robots or whatever it is looking for some more arrows. Having really great aim isn't always the most helpful power to have if you don't have life hacks that give you unlimited arrows. But I try." He moved onto the next target. "Ten arrows a night. It would amaze you how quickly it clears my head, just focusing up like that. When you're doing archery, the little things can't matter. They can't distract you-otherwise your aim will be way off." He purposefully misaimed, sending an arrow three inches to the right of the target. "Like that."

Just then Pietro noticed something propped against the side of the barn, next to the door. "What's that?"

"My quiver. I've had it ever since I joined up." He held it up to the single light bulb situated high up in the barn rafters. The quiver itself seemed to be falling apart; it was clear that the Battle of Sokovia had been its last big show. It looked like there was a hole in the bottom of it-probably from some wayward bullet or something. "It's not much. I've been meaning to get a new one, but I guess I never seem to have the time what with saving the world and all of that. But I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to give this one away. Of course, who's going to buy it? It's not exactly in mint condition-but it also has special significance. It reminds me of who I used to be when I joined up-little more than a kid looking for redemption. And I've found it. I've come this far-way farther than I thought I'd come when I first signed up. First I used to be a field agent, doing routine surveillance-next thing I know, they're telling me I'm an Avenger and one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes." He shot off a few more arrows. "Seven…eight…nine…" His last arrow thudded to a halt in the exact middle of the third target. "Not too bad. Well, I'm calling it a night. You two coming with?"

"Yeah." Pietro said absentmindedly. He was still looking at that quiver; he could practically feel the gears in his brain turning and forming an idea. One glance at Wanda told him that she was thinking the same thing. _Glad to know we're both on the same page._

He finally knew what they were going to do about the gift.

~IT~

The next day was a whirlwind of activity. The twins probably got around four or five hours of sleep before they left for town early in the morning. They had a destination in mind; they were there and back again in less than two hours with their gift in hand. Then they locked themselves in Wanda's room for the rest of the day; it was a lot more private than Pietro's. They had a lot to do and not a lot of time.

"Are they still up there?" Clint asked as Laura made grilled cheese sandwiches for Cooper and Lila.

"Yes. They're hard at work on something."

"They've been up there all day. Do you think we should be worried?"

"I don't think so. They're probably just working on a project of some sort." She went to the foot of the stairs and called up "Do you guys want some lunch? I'm making grilled cheese."

There was a moment of silence before the door opened and Pietro walked to the edge of the staircase. "Not just yet. We'll be down a little bit and get something then. Thank you for asking, though." He went back inside and closed the door behind him.

"Pietro turned down food-and a grilled cheese to boot. That's a first."

"I wonder what they're working on." Clint said.

"Who knows? If they want us to know what it is, they'll probably tell us. Until then, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they're not doing anything illegal."

~IT~

Father's Day dawned bright and sunny. The twins were up early once again to help Cooper and Lila make breakfast in bed for Clint as they were the only ones who knew how to use the coffee maker.

"What flavor do you think we should use?" Pietro asked, examining the seven shelves in the pantry now solely devoted to the family's coffee collection.

"Plain coffee with vanilla creamer." Lila answered automatically. "Once he let me try a sip. It tasted really, really disgusting. Why does he like that stuff?"

"It keeps him awake." While Pietro made the coffee, Wanda tried to figure out how to scramble eggs per Cooper's request.

"Do you know how to scramble eggs?" Cooper asked her. Wanda was looking at the stove top as if she had no idea what she was supposed to do with it.

"No. Check my phone. When in doubt, google it."

Within a minute, they'd found a very uncomplicated recipe and the kitchen was filled with the smell of eggs. Lila poured a glass of orange juice, picked a bouquet of wildflowers from the back garden, and arranged everything neatly on a tray. Pietro added the coffee and Cooper added the eggs and it was decided they were ready.

"Do you want to come with us to give it to him?" Cooper asked, taking the tray carefully so it wouldn't fall.

"No. We need to check on something." Pietro said, grabbing a roll of wrapping paper as he mounted the stairs to Wanda's bedroom at the top of the house. "We'll be ready when it's time to go to the state park."

~IT~

It was a perfect day for a picnic. The sun was shining but a wind blew through the trees so it wasn't stiflingly hot. There were quite a few other families there that had had the same idea but everyone was significantly spread out it so it didn't feel crowded. Pietro, Cooper, Lila, and Clint played with a Frisbee for most of the morning-at least until the plastic disc almost hit a small child. The picnic was delicious, as always. Once all the lunch ware had been thrown away or put back in the picnic basket, Cooper and Lila started clamoring to go swimming. Of course, Pietro wanted to with them-as did Wanda, after a little bit of coaxing. The water was a little on the cold side, but they still had fun splashing each other.

By the time they left, it was almost full on dark-but the celebration was by no means over. Back at the house, they watched _The Empire Strikes Back_ and cut up an ice cream cake that Laura had successfully hidden from everyone in order to keep it a surprise.

Finally, it was time for Clint to open his Father's Day gifts.

Lila and Cooper had each made cards and had presents to give their father (although Pietro suspected that the gifts had been bought by a third party; aka Laura): a new tie, a coffee mug, and a new set of arrows with red fletching.

Laura gave Clint a new ring made out of wood polished so highly it shone and a set of books-'just in case'. Once it looked like all the gifts had been opened, the twins went back upstairs to add their own gift to the pile.

Quite simply, it looked like Pietro had found a particularly large rock in Laura's vegetable garden and wrapped it up.

"Why did you use Christmas wrapping paper?" Wanda asked.

"It was the only paper I could find. I'm sorry it doesn't meet your high standards."

"Christmas is always in December, correct?"

"…Yes. You should have wrapped it yourself, if it matters that much to you."

"I was trying to scramble eggs. I thought you would be able to handle it."

"Well, it wasn't the easiest thing to wrap…"

"As long as you did the best you could, we should be fine."

They brought the present downstairs, bulky and awkwardly wrapped as it was, and added it to the gift pile. "This is just a little something we've been working on. We did most of the embellishing." Pietro explained.

Clint opened the package to reveal a brand new quiver, patterned in a dark maroon and embroidered with black thread. The top and bottom of the quiver had been carefully adorned with pictures of arrows and tiny Avengers symbols. At the very bottom somebody had carefully stitched To Clint from Pietro and Wanda. Thank you for all your help as we make our transition into full-fledged Avengers. It has been an incredible journey, but you have made it so much easier with your endless giving of time and talents. Thank you for reminding us how it feels to be part of a family. We'd almost forgotten. You are an amazing archer, a valued member of SHIELD and the Avengers, and an inspiration to everyone whether they are heroes, villains, gods, genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropists, or orphans still trying to separate the truth from the lies. Happy Father's Day. May you celebrate many others.

The embroidery was very, very small. Wanda had accidentally stabbed her hand with the needle more times than she could count. But it had all fit on there, regardless.

Clint examined it carefully, looking it over appraisingly and reading the message. "Is this why you were so busy yesterday?"

"Yes. It…took quite a bit of time to get it just right, but I think it turned out all right. Do you…like it?"

"I love it. I can't believe you did all of this. It looks professional. Thank you. You guys didn't have to do anything to-"

"But we wanted to. Happy Father's Day." Wanda replied.

 _I think that went well._

IT~

By that time, it was beginning to get very late and Cooper and Lila were almost asleep. It was decided that the celebration had probably gone on long enough. While Clint persuaded them to get ready for bed, Laura took care of Nathaniel and the twins went to Pietro's room to read their separate books and watch fireflies.

Wanda was just about to go back to her room when there was a knock on the door and Clint came in. "Not interrupting anything important, right?"

"No. Just reading." Pietro slid his bookmark into place feeling like his head was about to explode. 300 pages down. 400 to go.

"I just wanted to thank both of you for the quiver. It's really nice. Thanks. If you two ever want to learn archery, just come to the barn. I shoot ten arrows a night."

"We might take you up on that."

"Was that the best idea?" Wanda asked once Clint had left to get Lila a glass of water. "I mean, you with a bow and arrow…"

"Exactly. What could go wrong?"

 **As a side note, I'm going to be out of town for the next few days so I don't think I'll be able to update as frequently if at all. I think I'm going to be publishing a kind of 'short' story instead, just a few chapters long with (hopefully) daily updates-kind of like Twelve Days. But yeah, if you don't see an update for a long time, that's why.**

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading! :)**


	14. Archery

**Here's the next chapter!**

 **This chapter is basically just a (somewhat) continuation of the last chapter because I wanted to play around with. The next few chapters will be based on prompts I've received.**

 **Disclaimer: See chapter one.**

 **Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and feedback I've gotten on this story! You guys are all amazing!**

 **Enjoy!**

"This is an extremely bad idea."

"I know."

"We should probably just stop before we cause an apocalypse."

"It's just archery. How bad can it be?"

The twins were about to go to their first archery lesson-which could potentially go very, very wrong. But Clint had been nice enough to volunteer to give them lessons and they didn't feel it wise to turn down instruction from one of SHIELD's greatest archers.

Pietro for one was very excited. He'd never had the opportunity to learn archery-HYDRA agents hadn't taught him much about weapons. In fact, he'd only learned how to shoot a gun from years on the streets. And that was about the extent of his knowledge. He didn't understand why he even had to learn how to train with other weapons. He had his powers-and he thought that would be enough for any situation that might come up. But no-the Avengers insisted that he had to learn about various other types of weapons in case he was ever compromised.

Clint was already waiting for them when they reached the barn. He gestured to a wall filled with every type of bow imaginable-there were short bows, long bows, and even a few cross bows. "Pick whichever one you want and we'll get started. I wouldn't use a cross bow just yet. The recoil can get pretty intense."

After selecting their bows, the twins took their places in front of their respective targets. Pietro immediately began to fiddle with the bow, trying to shoot an arrow.

"Slow down." Clint said almost nervously. "Unless you want your arrow going outside, I suggest you aim."

Pietro sighed as he tried to adjust. He aimed straight for the middle of the target, took a second to gather his thoughts, and loosed an arrow. He thought he'd done pretty well; he wasn't expecting a bulls eye on his first try, but he would settle for a few inches to the left or right of the target's center.

The arrow flew a couple feet, lost momentum, and fell to the sandy floor of the barn. Wanda had to stifle a laugh, although her shot wasn't much better.

"That's fine." Clint replied. "I wasn't expecting you to get it on your first try. Try aiming upwards this time-and don't be afraid to really pull back on the string."

"My apologies." Pietro tried again. Once again, his arrow went way off course-although it _almost_ hit the target this time. "That was closer. Slightly."

"Yeah. We'll keep working on it."

For another hour, they loosed arrow after arrow. Clint was a very patient teacher. He didn't seem to mind the fact that neither of the twins had any particular natural talent for archery and didn't hit anywhere close the center of the target. Instead, he kept giving them tips to improve their reach and accuracy-not that it mattered much.

Finally, when everyone was sick of archery and Pietro's fingers throbbed where the bowstring had cut him, Clint decided they should call it a night. "We'll get back to it tomorrow. I've trained worse beginners-and they've all turned out to be just as good as I am. Archery is a skill that just takes a lot of practice. Tonight was your first time. Give it a little while longer and you'll be a regular pro." He shot off three arrows in rapid succession-each one hit its mark.

Pietro's head hurt from trying to aim. Even the gun had been better than this. Still, he smiled good naturedly as he and his sister thanked Clint for his time and walked back to the house in a tired silence.

"Well, that was…interesting." he said finally, as they let themselves in through the back door. Clint had stayed behind to shoot his customary ten arrows by himself.

"Yes. Archery is harder than I had at first anticipated."

"You should have used your powers and levitated the arrows. You could make it so they hit the target every single time."

"I'm fine. I want to learn how to use them without needing telekinesis. Don't be discouraged-"

"I'm not."

"Don't insult my intelligence like that. I know you are."

"I just thought it would be easier."

"It'll just take some work. And we can take hard work."

~IT~

Pietro was up at the crack of dawn to continue practicing. He got a quick cup of coffee since he couldn't function without it and went directly out to the barn, resolved and ready to work again. For hours, he shot off arrow after arrow. He always thought through every component of the shot-from the loading to the pull back to the release. He tried all sorts of different stances and different positions, but nothing seemed to work. His arrows always fell short.

"What are you doing?" Lila was standing in the doorway, holding a bowl of oatmeal sprinkled with brown sugar.

"Archery." He carefully reloaded and aimed, but his arrow just barely hit the outside of the target.

"Daddy got me my own bow for my birthday last year." She pointed out a small purple bow that was sticking out of a small wooden cabinet marked with her name. "Sometimes we go out to the archery range in town and hit some targets."

"Are you good at using a bow and arrow?" She had to be. She was Hawkeye's daughter, after all.

"Yeah. Daddy has been teaching me how to use them since I was old enough to string arrows. I don't use a real bow, though." She pulled out her bow, which on closer inspection appeared to be a kind of child bow with a soft plastic string and blunt arrows that probably wouldn't even be able to hurt a squirrel except at very close range. "Do you want me to show you?" Without waiting for an answer, she stepped up to the shooting line and carefully notched an arrow. Then she let it fly and they both watched as it arched through the air and hit the direct center of the target. It wobbled there for a minute, its grip not hard enough to puncture the hard outer covering of the target, before it fell to the floor. But her point had been made-even Lila, who wasn't even six years old yet, could shoot a bow better than Pietro could.

Not that he cared or anything.

"Mommy says you should come in if you want some breakfast." she continued, taking another spoonful of oatmeal.

Reluctantly, Pietro hung up his bow and followed her inside. He was already trying to find another time when he would be able to sneak back out to the barn. Technically he didn't even have to sneak-Clint hadn't said he wasn't allowed out there, but it had always felt like the archer's private space and Pietro always felt just a little strange whenever he went inside alone-like he was trespassing somewhere he really shouldn't be.

They spent most of the day down at the pond again, until it began to get unseasonably cold. When they got back to the house it was almost time to eat and Pietro was easily able to go back to the barn. This time, Wanda went with him. By the time Clint came in for their lesson, they'd already been at it for an hour and a half.

"Well, no one can say that you two aren't hard workers." he said as he set up. He watched Pietro hit the outermost ring of the target with no trouble. "Seems like we've made some improvement."

They'd made progress but it all felt almost painfully slow. Pietro was used to things happening fast. He'd always had a pretty steep learning curve-growing up, both he and Wanda had learned to read and write faster than a lot of the other kids in their class. Things just seemed to come naturally to them-especially to him. Not that he didn't have his problems-he was awful at fractions-but he'd learned to think on his feet and assess situations quickly and clearly. He'd had to, if he wanted to keep what remained of his family safe. He wasn't used to anything physical at least taking him more than a few hours to learn-but archery wasn't something he was used to. Days passed and he slowly improved, but none of his arrows ever came close to hitting the bull's eye.

He and Wanda snatched whatever little moments they could in order to practice-the half hour before dinner, an hour or two early in the morning before even the birds started their morning chorus. It quickly became apparent that Wanda was improving faster than he was. Eventually, one of her arrows hit dead center. After that, it was like something clicked inside her brain-she didn't get a bull's eye every time, of course, but her arrows always felt at least somewhat close to the target. Pietro did what he could, but it was never quite enough.

Finally, one night he finally decided he'd had enough. He'd forgotten to aim and his arrow had completely gone off course, landing on the target next to him instead. It was the final straw. In fact, it took everything he could to say that he needed to get a drink and leave the barn. Once he was alone in the night air, nestled among the reeds of the river that wound its way lazily across the property, he immediately felt better.

He stayed there for a few minutes, just collecting his thoughts. At times like these, it was hard to remind himself to keep going when all he wanted to do was give up because it seemed like things were never going to turn around. Why did he need to learn archery, anyway? Granted, it was a cool skill, but he really didn't need it. Guns would serve him well enough.

But he couldn't give up. He couldn't let archery get the best of him-no matter how frustrating it all was. He just felt like there was something that wasn't clicking-and it annoyed him to no end.

"Kid? You out here?"

Pietro stood up, fishing around for a valid excuse as to why he was standing on the bank of the river this late at night, but he came up empty. "Yeah. I just wanted to…stargaze."

"See any interesting constellations?"

"Not really." To be honest, Pietro couldn't even find the Big Dipper unless someone pointed it out to him.

"Want to head back?"

"I suppose."

"You know, I've been noticing something about the way you shoot. Your technique is pretty good-there's a little room for improvement, but it's not too bad. Your problem is that you're overthinking it. You worry too much about the process of archery-when really, you don't need to think about it so much. Just let things go-and make sure you're aiming correctly. You'll be fine."

"It's just…difficult."

"Of course it is. Everyone would do it if it was easy. And you'll get the hang of it. You're almost there, really."

"Sure. Whatever you say."

"Five more arrows. Then we'll call it a night. Just five more arrows and then you can do whatever you want."

"Fine. But just five."

Back in the barn, Pietro raised the bow and aimed his arrow just like Clint had told him to. _Bowstring is drawn all the way back…aim a little lower, you have a tendency to shoot high-_

"You're thinking too hard." Clint said.

"Fine." Pietro didn't see how this would change anything, but he reluctantly released the pressure on the bowstring. The arrow arced through the air and landed two inches to the middle of the target. _Hmm. Maybe he actually does know what he's talking about._

Pietro's next four arrows landed in around the same place-as close to the middle of the target as he could get without making the coveted bull's eye.

"You'll get it tomorrow." Clint said as they cleaned up for the night.

"I hope so." Although his advice did help-Pietro was finding that his arrows went closer and closer to their mark if he didn't overthink things. "Usually Wanda is the one who thinks things over."

~IT~

Pietro tried to sneak back out to the barn the next morning, but Wanda intercepted him before he could. "I told Lila we'd played Barbies with her this morning."

"We play Barbies with her every morning-when she isn't watching 'Sofia the First', that is."

"Yes, but she got some new ones yesterday and she would like our help in naming them."

Pietro groaned. "How many Barbies does one person need?"

"You're not getting out of this. We're playing Barbies whether you like it or not."

"Just so long as I don't have to be a princess again."

"But you're a very good princess-"

"Don't even start. I haven't had my coffee yet."

"You know Pietro, I think you're starting to take this archery thing a little too seriously."

"One bull's eye. That is all I want."

"And then you'll take it down a notch?"

"Yes. I promise. Will you cover for me? Just this once?"

"Fine. But next time we play you have to be a princess."

"If I have to. Thank you, Wanda." And with that he was off to the barn.

~IT~

 _Don't think about it…don't think about it._ Pietro loaded his fifth or sixth arrow and released it with a soft hiss of metal against string. Immediately, he could tell something was different. The arrow arched through the air perfectly-landing directly in the center of the target.

Bull's eye.

Immediately, there was an explosion of clapping from outside. Pietro spun around to see Wanda and all the Bartons standing in the doorway to the barn. _I wonder how long they've been watching._ "What are you guys doing?"

"You don't think we haven't noticed where you've been sneaking off to these past few days?" Laura asked.

"This was more interesting than playing Barbies!" Lila said.

"Okay, okay. I hit the target. It's fine. Now let's all go inside and pretend this never happened." Pietro said, carefully hanging up his bow and quiver. He was beginning to think that the Bartons actually cared about the well-being of both him and his sister-and he wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing. It was such a foreign concept-one he hadn't thought about in almost a decade. He was so used to taking care of himself and taking care of Wanda-sometimes it felt odd not having to worry about bombs or injections or experiments that would push them over the edge.

Thankfully, everyone took his advice and headed back for chocolate chip pancakes in celebration. Pietro took an especially long time cleaning up so he would be the last one inside. Of course, Clint didn't take the hint and fell in step beside him as they walked back to the house. "I'm proud of you, kid. Good job."

"Thanks. It was nothing, really. It certainly doesn't deserve pancakes."

"Everything deserves pancakes. Besides, you've been working hard."

"You know, maybe archery isn't that bad after all." Frustrating, sure…but maybe even a little fun, too.

"Finally you realize that! Now come on-it's been a long time since Laura made pancakes."

Pietro was more than eager to follow him into the house.

Although he still couldn't believe they'd managed to sneak up on him. His reflexes seemed to have gotten soft since the battle. But Clint had been right-about more things than one. His accomplishment gave Laura a reason to make pancakes-

-and pancakes really were delicious.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading :)**


	15. Stir Crazy

**Hey everybody! So, I'm back in town for a few more weeks-although apparently I seem to update whether I'm on vacation or not. To everyone in the U.S, I hope you had a happy 4** **th** **of July! If you're not in the U.S, I hope you had an awesome Saturday :)**

 **So, I don't usually do things like this but I think it would be super cool if this story could hit one hundred reviews this chapter. We're so close…Anyway, that's my little challenge for the day. Enjoy the chapter, which comes from a prompt submitted to me by shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod. The next two chapters are going to be from ideas that I've come up with, but after that I'll write the rest of the prompts I still have to get around to.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers**

 **Thanks for all the amazing feedback, follows, and favorites! I'm so glad you all like this story. Really, you're all amazing. Thanks so very much for everything and have a great rest of your day :)**

It was just a sprain. Just a little, little sprain. Still, it mean that Pietro wasn't allowed to put weight on his right foot-which meant he had to 'rest' all day. Which meant he couldn't run. Which meant he was probably going to die from boredom.

He'd been racing Cooper, just like they did every day. Cooper always insisted on a rematch, convinced that this was the time he would beat Pietro-though he never did. It was always the same track-a lap around the barn and then a dead sprint to the back porch. It should have been a normal race. But midway through, something had gone wrong. Pietro had tripped over a stone of all things and had gone sprawling, landing oddly on his right foot. It had hurt like mad, but he didn't feel like showing everyone else that he was injured so he'd gotten up and finished the race-even though with every step he felt like a hot pain was knifing into the top of his foot.

Even with that little setback he still managed to finish first.

"Did you fall?" Lila asked when he sat down on the porch next to her, not even winded.

"Yes-but I'm fine now." he replied, surreptitiously trying to massage his foot.

Of course, Wanda wasn't convinced. "Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself?"

"No. I'm fine. Honestly."

"I don't think so." Pietro noticed that she seemed to be walking with just a slight limp-which meant she'd probably felt the sprain using their weird twin empathy link. Whenever one of the twins got hurt, the other one always felt the pain-albeit to somewhat of a lesser degree. It had enabled them to stay in touch while they were on the streets searching for food and it had been more than helpful in the Battle of Sokovia, but occasionally it could be a bit of a nuisance-like when Pietro was experimenting with his powers and accidentally ran into walls. Neither of them truly knew how it worked or how they had come to have it but Pietro was usually glad to have it all the same.

Except for cases like these, when all he wanted was to hide his injury from anyone and everyone. "Really, it's not bad."

"Let me see it."

"Wanda, it isn't that-"

"Let me see it, Pietro."

Reluctantly, Pietro undid his shoelaces and started to massage his foot as gingerly as he could. It still hurt to the touch-not very badly, but enough to annoy him. "Just a sprain."

"If you have a sprain, you're supposed to rest."

"I can't rest." He had a little problem with sitting still.

"It doesn't look like you have a choice. Come on-maybe Laura knows more about how to treat it." The twins' medical knowledge was limited at best. "You can walk on it, right?"

"It's a sprain, not a full-on break." Pietro replied as he used the porch railing to pull himself to his feet. He realized that if he walked in just a certain way, with his feet pointed straight forward, it didn't hurt so much. He'd live. Probably.

Just then, Cooper came running up to them. He was practically bent double from the race, but he was grinning broadly. "Do you want to race again?"

"Maybe later. My sister is insisting on making a big deal over nothing." Pietro explained.

"You sprained your ankle, Pietro." Wanda replied. "Honestly. Please at least try to cooperate."

"Can I come too?" Lila asked, looking up from where she'd been playing with her dolls. Pietro was personally under the impression that no one needed that many Barbies-but Lila was always telling him, quite matter-of-factly, that she had the smallest collection out of any of her friends.

"Sure. Do you want to come as well, Cooper?"

He nodded and followed them inside, closing the screen door so the flies wouldn't get in. "Mom? Pietro sprained his ankle."

Laura was still washing up the breakfast dishes in the kitchen while Nathaniel lay on a blanket near the back door where he could watch the world go by outside. "Hey, guys. How was your race?"

Cooper shrugged. "I still didn't win. But Pietro tripped and he said he sprained his ankle."

Laura examined the ankle and nodded. "I'd say that's a sprain all right. Pietro, you'll need to take it easy today. That means no running."

"It's not bad. I can still get around fine-" Pietro took two steps and almost fell, having to catch himself on the back of the nearest chair.

"I don't care. Go lie down on the couch for a while and I'll make you an ice pack. It won't be for very long-if everything goes well you'll be back to normal tomorrow, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Laura was using her no nonsense tone, which meant that Pietro's fate was as good as sealed.

"I can't spend an entire day not moving."

"You'll have to if you want that to heal-and trust me, you want it to heal."

He was trying hard not to panic. "I might go stir crazy. And you really don't want to see me stir crazy."

"I'm sure I can handle it. Now hurry up. These dishes aren't going to wash themselves and I'm losing hot water."

The twins, Cooper, and Lila trooped into the sunroom and waited while Pietro made himself comfortable. Cooper and Lila especially were very accommodating-grabbing extra cushions if he needed them and getting him glasses of water as he needed them. Lila even ran upstairs and got a few of her favorite books that she was sure Pietro would enjoy. Pietro couldn't really see himself enjoying such classics as The Pegasus Triplets Save Magic Rainbow Island or Barbie's Day at the Beach, but he appreciated the gesture. Mostly he flipped through the channels, trying to find something even remotely interesting to occupy himself for the next twelve to fifteen hours. He almost settled on Breaking Bad, a show he'd heard about but had never seen, but decided against it because Cooper and Lila were still in the room and it didn't look like they'd be going anywhere anytime soon.

"Let's watch House Hunters!" Lila cried. "That's my favorite show!"

As he didn't really have anything better to do, Pietro clicked on the show and tried to watch. Laura handed him an ice pack to put on the sprain, which had to be elevated and compressed as necessary. Cooper and Lila were really getting into it; Lila hadn't been lying when she said the show was her favorite.

They watched TV for almost three hours until Pietro was able to cross being a real estate agent off his list of life goals. His leg was almost itching with a need to run and a need to move, but he wasn't allowed to leave the couch-which just made him more and more antsy. "Is this show all that is on this channel?"

"No. Property Brothers is good, too-but House Hunters is usually on in the afternoons." Cooper explained. "It looks like there's a whole marathon of them-"

Pietro practically grabbed the remote out of his hand. "Let's see what else is on, shall we?" He flipped through the channels but couldn't find anything else worth watching. "What about Netflix?" He'd just discovered Netflix while on the Quinjet before the Battle, but he had already fallen in love with it.

"We don't have it all the way out here." Lila said. 

_Of course you don't._ "Okay. Well, what about a game?"

Lila ran to the game cabinet and returned with a game that seemed to be nothing but trivia about the Pegasus triplets. "This game is really fun. It's one of my favorites."

Cooper looked about as nervous as Pietro felt-but luckily they were both interrupted by Laura coming in with lunch. "I made soup. Cooper, Lila, the two of you can eat in here as long as you're very careful. I don't want to see any carpet stains, okay?"

Both kids nodded quickly and went right to eating their soup. Pietro tried a bite experimentally. It tasted delicious-thick and creamy. "Did you make this from scratch?" It didn't taste like something that had come out of a can-which was what he was used to eating. He was still getting used to the fact that Laura didn't mind making meals for them-in fact, she liked it. And Laura was an amazing cook-she did all sorts of things with food that Pietro would never have dreamed were possible. HYDRA hadn't exactly been creative with the gruel they'd given the twins on a day to day basis.

"Yes. Do you like it?"

"It's amazing."

She laughed. "There's more where that came from, if you're still hungry." The family had quickly grown used to his increased metabolism.

"Thank you."

"Of course. You're staying off that foot, aren't you?"

"Yes." _For now._

After lunch, Laura had to drive Cooper and Lila into town to get new shoes. As Clint was out on a fishing trip with some old friends, Pietro and Wanda would have the house to themselves for a good three or four hours.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Laura asked, checking for the millionth time that she had her keys. "The emergency numbers are on the fridge like normal, we have HBO and AMC if you two are fans of any of their shows…Clint should be back in a couple of hours if I don't get back before then. Wanda, you'll keep an eye on Nathaniel, right? I just put him down for his nap. He should sleep soundly for a good hour or so at least. When he wakes up he might be hungry. I left the baby food on the counter if you need it-"

"We'll be fine." Wanda said reassuringly. "We've done this before. We'll be fine-won't we, Pietro?"

Pietro nodded. "We'll just be watching TV." His leg was beginning to twitch involuntarily. He didn't think he'd ever sat still for so long. It wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling. Clearly, he was meant to be in motion.

Stupid rock.

Laura nodded once. "Good. Have fun, you guys." She went to get the car started, followed reluctantly by Lila and Cooper. Obviously, shoe shopping was not a popular endeavor.

Once they were gone, Pietro changed the channel to HBO faster than should be humanly possible. It was then that he realized his ice pack was more water than ice. "Wanda, would you might getting me another ice pack?"

"Of course." She refilled it and examined his foot carefully. "It looks like the swelling is going down."

"That's good, right? That means I can run again-"

"No. Good try. You're just going to stay right there. Got it?"

"You're not the boss of me. I'm twelve minutes older than you."

"Not anymore."

"I'm bored."

"Find something to do."

"That's what I'm saying. I'm trying and I can't. I'm very, very bored. All I would like to do is slam my head against a wall."

"Fine by me. You can knock yourself out and then I won't have to listen to your complaining."

Pietro sighed. "I want to run."

"And sprain your ankle even further? It looks a lot better. By tomorrow morning it will be as good as new."

"I don't know if I can wait that long."

"Please stop being so overdramatic. And don't turn the TV up so loud. I'm trying to read."

Pietro sighed and clicked on Game of Thrones, picking an episode at random. Sure, he was probably going to spoil something for himself, but he didn't really care all that much. He just needed something to distract him from his current predicament.

He glared at the ice pack, as though it wasn't doing its job in a satisfactory manner. _Work faster._

~IT~

Nathaniel woke up two hours later and started to cry almost immediately. Wanda ended up having to feed him to keep him happy, getting baby food all over herself in the process. "Why does this always end up happening?" she muttered as she went to change her shirt. "I'm leaving the baby with you. Don't kill it."

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. You're stir crazy. You're not yourself."

"I will be very careful with him." At least he would try. He could promise her that much.

Even so, it seemed like she changed her shirt as fast as could be managed.

"I'm getting tired of watching TV." In fact, his eyes were beginning to burn from hours of staring at a screen. "Let's think of something else to do."

"Okay. Like what?"

"We could play video games. Cooper told me there's a console somewhere."

Wanda grabbed the video game controller from the top of the television and examined it at arm's length. "We've never played video games before."  
"It can't be that hard. Or we could prank call Avengers Tower."

"That's an even worse idea. Do you really want Earth's Mightiest Heroes mad at us?"

"…I'm guessing the correct answer would be no. All right, fine. We'll just call your boyfriend."

"Vision is not my-"

"Well he certainly seemed like more than a friend by the time he had to leave."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Would you just go to sleep already?"

"Is Laura planning to make dinner? We could order pizza and have it delivered here."

"No."

"Or we could make something ourselves. I'll find a recipe on the internet and read it out to you. Then you can make it for us in the kitchen."

"Right, because that sounds like it will go well."

"How about you use your telekinesis to make a Barbie tower? We can try to set a world record."

"I don't think I should be using my powers in the house."

"No one is here. Who's going to be upset?"

"On principle I would rather not-"

"You're no fun. How about-"

"I'm going to go in the living room. Stay here and watch Nathaniel. I've officially reached the limit of idiocy I can take in one day." Without further ado, Wanda grabbed her book and left.

"Okay, so you're just going to leave me with the baby? That doesn't seem like a smart idea-"

"Maybe he'll calm you down."

"But I don't want to watch a-Wanda, come on. You're not seriously going to make me entertain myself, are you?"

No answer.

Pietro sighed. "Fine. If that's how you want to play." He shifted Nathaniel so the baby could look at him curiously. "It looks like it's just you and me. Do you want to hear a story?" He picked up the book that happened to be on top of the stack Lila had left with him: The Pegasus Triplets Save Magic Rainbow Island. "No one is going to overhear." Reluctantly, he turned to the first page. "The Pegasus Triplets were having a very normal day eating their breakfast of pancakes imbued with the special magic of their queen, Uni the Unicorn-now isn't that original?-when all of a sudden there was a knock on the door…"

~IT~

Clint got back two hours later. "Sorry I'm late. There was this huge sea bass-wait. Where is everybody?"

"Laura, Cooper, and Lila are in town going shoe shopping. They should be getting back soon. Pietro and Nathaniel are in the other room. Pietro sprained his ankle this morning and he's been laid up on the couch ever since." Wanda explained, not even looking up from her book.

"Should I be worried?"

"No. Come and see." She led him into the other room, where Pietro and Nathaniel were both asleep on the couch. The Pegasus Triplets lay discarded on the floor. "He'd been going stir crazy all day."

"Not being able to run can't be easy for him-"

"Yes, but he'd gone so far as to suggest we prank call the tower."

"Does your brother have a death wish?"

"I don't know. Maybe he does, just for today."

"Understandable. So listen, I was talking to Nat and she said that they don't have any plans for the Fourth-which, coincidentally, happens to be Steve's birthday. Don't give me that look; I'm not kidding. I promise. Anyway, I invited them all to come here and a few of them have gotten back to me. We can expect to see Nat and Steve, of course, along with Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Sam, and Vision in a few days for a picnic. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like it will be a nice way to celebrate the holiday."

"You're on board. Good. I think I'll make dinner tonight since it's starting to get late. Want to help?"

"Sure-although you should probably know that I'm not very good at cooking."

"Neither am I-but we'll do our best."

"Do you think we can leave them on their own?" She gestured to Pietro and Nathaniel.

"They'll be fine. We'll just be in the next room. Hold on-there's just one last thing I have to do." He snapped a quick picture of the two boys. "This is going on Facebook."

 **Review, follow, and favorite!**


	16. 4th of July

**New update!**

 **I don't think I really have anything new to report, so this is going to be a really short author's note (for once). Expect a new update on Sunday. I'm really hoping to post then; you'll see why in the next chapter.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! Your support means a lot :)**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Nothing's changed.**

 **Enjoy!**

"You owe me a new kitchen."

"Come on, Laura. It wasn't _that_ bad. Sure, the cabinets are a little…charred…but they're still functional."

"I don't want burn marks all over my kitchen, Clint. We'll have to go out and get them replaced. After the Fourth, of course."

 _Note to self: never, ever try to cook dinner for Laura unless you have a death wish._ Clint's attempt to cook dinner hadn't gone well. In fact, he'd almost burned down the house. But he hadn't, as he kept telling Laura. The house was still intact and no one had gotten hurt.

However, this was not the time to worry about it either way. In less than an hour, the rest of the Avengers would arrive for the July 4th picnic and everything had to be ready.

"How's the banana bread looking?" he asked, pouring half of a bag of potato chips into a glass bowl he and Laura had gotten as a wedding gift years ago.

Laura checked the oven and nodded in approval. "Looks good. It should be ready by the time everyone gets here."

"What about the cake?"

"It's fine, Clint. What are the others doing outside?"

Clint glanced out the window to the front lawn, where he'd assigned jobs to Cooper, Lila, and the twins in order to reduce the pile of things they had to get done before the other Avengers arrived. Pietro had opted to use a push mower to mow the lawn-he was just a streak of blue zooming all over the field. His ankle had healed well; he had been able to walk it off like nothing bad had happened to it. Cooper was lining the gravel path to the house with clean white stones, Lila was out in the meadow picking wildflowers to decorate the coffee table in the living room, and Wanda was scouting the perimeter of the property looking for any stray tree branches that had fallen off during that really bad storm the week before. Everyone was working diligently and without complaint; he wondered if he should be nervous. "It looks like they're doing their jobs correctly."

Laura came to stand by his side, surveying the scene. "Well, you can't say they don't try."

"Yeah. They're good kids-all of them. I hope the twins know that they're forgiven for everything that happened with HYDRA. They seem like they're adjusting to everything all right, but this has got to be a lot for them-starting over in a new place with new people who up until a few months ago were their enemies."

"I'm sure they're fine. They don't seem to be having any problems-and they're great around the kids."

"Who would have thought, right?"

"Before I met the twins, I thought it would be a bad idea for us to take them in. They would be exposed to everything they should have had but never did…I just didn't know how they'd react. But now I think that was the best thing you could have done for them. Now come on-we still need to get the grill set up."

~IT~

It was a beautiful day for a picnic-sunny, not a cloud in the blue sky, and a breeze in the trees so it didn't get too hot. Pietro still wasn't sure what exactly the Fourth of July was supposed to commemorate-he'd looked it up last night but he still had lots of questions-and he wasn't exactly a U.S. citizen yet. However, he knew the basics-and in any case, it didn't matter because all the Avengers were going to assemble again. And this time they weren't even going to save the world.

He dodged Lila, who was humming a song as she filled a little basket with wildflowers. He still had a lot of grass left to mow and not a lot of time-but he supposed that was what happened when you lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere surrounded by miles and miles of open pasture and green hills.

Clint had promised he would set off some fireworks later, when it got dark. Pietro was very excited about it; he'd never seen a firework display before, unless you counted shelling. Which he didn't. But there was still a lot to do before that happened.

Just then, he heard a rustling in the bushes somewhere behind him and he spun around to see who was coming. Cooper ran back up to the porch, his stones lying forgotten in the dust. "They're here!" he cried excitedly.

One by one, the Avengers began to trickle out of the forest: first Steve and Nat, to Cooper and Lila's delight, followed by Sam, Rhodey, and Vision, with Tony and Pepper at the end. "Did you bring the Quinjet?" Cooper asked, looking around as if he expected to see the massive aircraft hiding behind a tree on the edge of the property.

Steve laughed. "I wish-but the new base is only a couple of hours away. We drove."

"And Steve made us listen to oldies!" Tony complained. "Not like eighties music, mind you, but songs that are so ancient they belong on record discs."

"Calm down." Pepper told him sternly. "It _is_ Steve's birthday, after all."

"Oh yeah. I forgot. It's not like I haven't heard about it five million times in two hours. How old are you, Steve? Two hundred and seven?"

"Very funny." Steve replied. "Ninety six."

"At least I was in the ball park."

Just then, Clint and Laura came outside to greet everyone. Immediately, Clint started talking with Steve and Sam about the soccer game they'd watched the day before while Laura and Pepper started comparing something that sounded suspiciously like recipes for corn on the cob. Tony, Rhodey, and Vision had enlisted Cooper to give them a tour of the property, while Lila was determined to show Natasha her growing collection of Barbies. That left the twins the odd ones out-which Pietro was fine with by now. It happened a lot.

Just then, Steve waved them over. "How have you two been?" he asked. "Staying out of trouble?"

Pietro laughed. "Did you seriously just ask me if I've been staying out of trouble? How old do you think I am?"

"Not sure. All of SHIELD's records were pretty conflicted. But I'm pretty sure you can't be over twenty."

"We turn eighteen next week." He changed the subject quickly, hoping that no one thought he wanted any kind of celebration. "How is the new base?" It wasn't quite finished yet, but Steve hoped to have it move in ready by the end of the summer.

"It's pretty good. We've been having a small problem with a bat infestation, but other than that we're just waiting for all the furniture to get shipped up." Steve glanced across field after field of growing corn; the air smelled fresh and clean, with just the faintest scent of fresh baked banana bread mixed in. "Mmm. You just don't smell air like that back in the city."

"Now do you see why I moved out? A farm is a good investment-you should try it some time. Find a girl, settle down. Maybe even start a family. Staying off the grid can be hard, but it's worth it. And its benefits far outweigh the risks." Clint said.

"I'll have to think about it, Barton. Maybe someday, when the Avengers become obsolete and we have Stark's robots saving us instead." That wouldn't happen though; they'd learned their lesson about artificial intelligence. It was just too much of a gamble to take with world security.

"Who wants some banana bread?" Laura called, handing out plates. Cooper and Lila were the first ones in line. Looks of pure bliss were etched onto their faces as they took the first delicious bite without hesitation. Pietro was a little more cautious. Sure he'd never met a dish he didn't like, but he liked to know what he was eating before he bit into it. It seemed normal enough, so he took a big bite. It was delicious; within a minute he'd finished his piece and was asking for seconds.

"How's farm life working out for you, kid?" Tony asked, pouring himself a glass of lemonade. "Is Barton making you get up at the crack of dawn to milk cows?"

"I wasn't aware the farm had cows." Pietro replied.

"We keep them over there." Lila pointed out a large barn a couple field away. "We own some of them, but Daddy says they're mostly the Hansen's problem." She skipped away with the lemonade pitcher to refill any empty glasses.

"Do you ever get bored out here, with just the farm to keep you occupied? Seems like you'd run out of things to do pretty quickly-especially someone like yourself." Tony pointed out.

"I don't just have the farm. I have the fields, the pool, the meadows, the woods, and the hayloft. If I wish for a more modern take on life, I can drive into town. But I like it here, in the middle of the wilderness. It's not as overwhelming as New York City was, after Sokovia. Besides, there's plenty of room for me to stretch my legs, my sister is here with me, and we have little children to look after. How can we ever run out of things to do?" Pietro responded.

"Calm down-I was just asking. I didn't need a sermon." Tony laughed. "Must be nice, to have the little things make you happy. As for me, I don't feel like myself unless I'm messing with some wires." He glanced across the gathering. "Are your sister and Vision a thing?"

"What do you mean?" Pietro spun around to see them talking by the river, laughing at some joke or another. Of course they were.

"They look like a thing."

"They're not a thing." He was really long overdue for a chat with Wanda about just how far this 'friends' thing was going to go.

"Really? Because I know a lot about relationships and they're obviously into each other."

Before Pietro could argue with them further, Laura said that it was time to eat-so the twins were able to try their first hamburgers. The afternoon stretched out before them, long and there for the taking.

First Cooper brought out the lawn darts (the blunt kind), which worked well for a little while. Of course, Clint had the best aim, but that was only to be expected. Eventually, the group dispersed to find their own ways to entertain themselves as the day got hotter and the sun seemed to beat down from on high with more and more intensity.

"Can we go swimming, Pietro?" Lila asked. Cooper looked on, using his eyes to practically beg Pietro to agree.

"I guess so. Why don't you ask Wanda if she wants to come along too?"

"I did. She says she's busy."

 _Of course she is._ "And you got permission from your parents, right?"

"Yeah. So can we please, please go?"

"I suppose. If you really, really want to." His reluctance was just for show; on a hot summer day, a few hours in the pool was about the best way he could think of to spend his time.

The pool was cool and shaded as always, shutting out the worst of the sun's rays. After doing a few cannon balls into the water and getting Cooper and Lila thoroughly soaked, Pietro was content to just lounge on a natural dirt cliff built into the side of the hole and read his book as the kids splashed and played farther out.

"Interesting reading?" Sam asked, sitting down on the bank above him.

"Yeah." Pietro pulled himself out of the water so they could be on the same level. "How's the party going?"

"Good. Last time I checked, Stark was trying to fix a faulty combine engine."

"Because that doesn't sound like a recipe for disaster at all."

Sam laughed. "Well, he tries. And he usually succeeds in the end. So, do you guys come out here a lot?" He was probably the Avenger Pietro knew the least about; he hadn't really had much of a part in the Battle of Sokovia and he'd been working on a very high profile and top secret missing persons case for the past few months.

"At least every other day. Cooper and Lila love the water."

"Seems like a nice little place-hidden, too. I almost got lost twice on the way here."

"That's the idea. How's that case of yours coming along?"

"Really well. I think we're making major progress. Unfortunately, I'm not in charge of it anymore."

"Why not? I thought you were all over that."

"I was-and then I became an Avenger. Apparently I can't do both. What about you? When are you coming back to New York?"

"Soon-probably within the next couple of weeks."

"Do you ever miss the bustle of the city? It seems like your type of thing."

"It is, most definitely-but it's just a little overwhelming for someone who's never seen a skyscraper before Seoul. I hear the base is pretty isolated, though."

"Yeah-it's really nice. Just us and the woods-and a lot of hungry raccoons. We had to get padlocks on the dumpsters so they wouldn't try and break in when it gets dark out."

"Makes sense. How's boot camp?"

"Grueling. You'll love it. Being part of the team can be…really different. It takes a little while to get used to…but eventually you'll get used to it. We all did."

"That's reassuring. Thanks."

They sat on the bank and watched the kids play for what felt like hours. By the time Steve came out to find them the sun was starting to set, coloring the land soft shades of gold and purple. "We're getting the fireworks set up."

Cooper sprang out of the water excitedly. "Did you get a lot of them?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I did. We're going to put on a firework show you're not going to forget anytime soon. How's that?"

"Awesome!" Cooper practically sprinted back toward the house, the pool water practically flying off of him as his feet pounded the soft and dusty path. Lila was on his heels, laughing uncontrollably.

"I forgot to say happy birthday." Pietro said as they walked back. The smell of fresh barbecue smelled wonderful on the summer air. "Ninety six is a pretty big achievement."

"Maybe I would appreciate it more if I hadn't spent the last seventy years in a coma." Steve replied. Pietro could tell that he still wasn't quite over that fact-but he could only imagine what that must be like, to wake up exactly as you were only to find out that over half a century had passed, the world had completely changed, and all of the friends you'd made and people you'd known were either dead or close to it.

By the time they reached the house it was almost full on dark. Fireflies were starting to come out around the edges of the property; Pietro could hear Cooper and Lila laughing as they caught the bugs in the little glass jars Laura had provided for them. Tony and Rhodey were going over what seemed like a ton of explosives, making sure everything was in order. It looked like there were really a lot of explosives.

"Ever seen fireworks before?" Natasha asked, stirring a glass of champagne.

Pietro shook his head. "Never had occasion to."

"I'm sure Tony is going to put on a show."

"Should I be worried?"

Just then, Tony lit the first charge. Something small and red zoomed high into the sky, crackling softly. For a moment there was complete and total silence-and then the spark erupted, transforming into a huge circle of sparks in blue and green with a loud bang. Instantly, Pietro thought of shells going off and buildings crumpling like paper-but no one seemed to be worried in the slightest. In fact, Cooper and Lila had even abandoned their firefly chase to watch the spectacle. Their eyes were fixed to the heavens and looks of awe and joy were imprinted on their faces. As quickly as it had formed the firework seemed to dissolve into nothingness and the world was quiet once again.

Tony lit another fuse and two more fireworks went up, forming two separate circles. Pietro couldn't just hear the loud bangs as they exploded; he could also feel it, rattling his entire body and even the ground beneath his feet. "Is this normal?" he asked.

"Yes. I know it takes a little getting used to, but there's no danger. Stark and Rhodey are very careful when it comes to things like this."

After that, the night sky was filled with a slew of fireworks-one after the other. As soon as the smoke cleared from one, another one took its place with another earth shattering explosion. And they didn't just come in bursts, either-Tony managed to create shapes out of them; stars, stripes, and even the head of a dragon. They filled the night sky, lighting up the dark and quiet world.

Pietro felt more than saw Wanda come and stand next to him, seemingly just as absorbed in the fireworks as he was. "Aren't they amazing?" she asked.

"Yes. I've never seen anything like them. So, did you finally grow tired of talking to your boyfriend?"

She looked like she was about to correct him but then thought better of it. "I thought you might be lonely."

"I wasn't-"

"You looked like you were. Anyway, I feel like I haven't seen you all day. Vision will be just fine on his own for a little while. How was the pool?"

"Cold. What did you do all afternoon?"

"Just walked around. Nothing special. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. You can stop worrying."

"I'm not worrying-"

"You're an absolutely terrible liar. Did you know that?"

Finally, after what seemed like two lifetimes but was probably only fifteen minutes, Tony said he'd run out of fireworks. While he made sure there was nothing left that could catch on fire accidentally, the others went inside for cake, ice cream, and presents.

Steve seemed very happy with all of his presents, including a complete Star Trek series from Sam as he knew the super soldier hadn't watched them yet. The twins gave him a (complete) set of vintage Captain America trading cards (it had been Pietro's idea). After that, they just spent time in the living room talking. It seemed like they never ran out of topics-there was always something else to say or gossip over.

But finally Cooper and Lila started yawning uncontrollably (Nathaniel had long since fallen asleep) and Clint suggested the party disband. Pietro realized that it was getting close to midnight-the afternoon had gone by so fast that he hadn't noticed.

"Take care of yourself, kid." Tony said as he got into the driver's seat of his sports car. "See you in September for the labor day party."

"I look forward to that." Pietro said. He didn't think he would ever be able to forgive Tony Stark for what had happened to his parents all those years ago, but he didn't hate the man either. Rather, he thought he would have to be satisfied with acceptance.

He shook hands with Rhodey and Pepper but barely acknowledged Vision. Natasha wished him luck with Cooper and Lila while he wished Sam luck of his own back at boot camp (Sam insisted he didn't need it).

"Did you have a good birthday?" he asked Steve as Wanda was saying her final goodbyes to Vision.

Steve nodded. "Out of all of my ninety six birthdays, this has definitely been one of the best. See you back at the tower." With that Pietro went back inside to assess the damage.

It wasn't too bad, although the kitchen did look like a tornado had gone through it. That would need to get cleaned up at some point.

Laura saw him looking at the mess and waved him upstairs. "We'll deal with it tomorrow. Get some sleep. You look like you're asleep on your feet."

"Are you sure-"

"Yes, I'm positive. Did you have a good Fourth?"

"Yes. Fireworks are truly amazing."

"They are, aren't they? Even after all these years, they never get old."

Pietro waited up for Wanda to say good night to him, as was customary. She seemed exhausted, but also very happy. "So, how is normal working out for you?" he asked.

"It's been nice, actually. I'm almost going to miss it when we go back to the Tower."

He knew what she meant-but they were enhanced human beings as well as superheroes. They didn't fit in anywhere else. They couldn't be normal, so they would have to take what they could find.

But days like this one weren't so bad-not when they were all misfits to some degree. "Me too. But maybe we don't have to. Maybe one day, we'll figure all of this out."

"Maybe. I hope that day come soon."

"So do I. Happy fourth of July, Wanda."

"Happy Fourth, Pietro."

 **I don't know whether Steve Roger's birthday is actually on July 4** **th** **or if that's just something that everyone in the fandom does. It seems to be pretty widespread though, so I thought I'd put it in the story.**

 **Like I said above, I plan on updating again tomorrow (I was going to post this one yesterday but I wrote a thousand words and got such a bad case of writer's block that I really couldn't finish it).**

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	17. Birthdays

**Early update-for a reason. That is because I have a special prompt that I wrote because today is my birthday and I thought this would be a cute little thing to write about :)**

 **So yeah, that's about it really. Have a great rest of your Sunday!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

Pietro didn't know how you were supposed to feel when you woke up on your first day as an adult. He wasn't sure if you were supposed to feel as though you had been imbued with all the knowledge in the universe or immediately go out to tell the entire world that you were fully mature (supposedly). In fact, he didn't really feel any different. But today was his eighteenth birthday. That had to count for something at least.

The twins didn't exactly have a great track record when it came to birthdays. Of course, for the first ten years of their lives birthdays had been a big deal-their parents had always found ways to make the day a little brighter, make the weekly rations stretch a little longer, and ensure that the kids had a great day. Back before the revolution, his mother had always made two cakes-one for each of them. Even when butter, eggs, and sugar became almost nonexistent, she always managed to scrape together the materials necessary to make something delicious. Even now, years later, Pietro had to wonder how she'd done it-but somehow she'd always managed to make each of their birthdays unforgettable. The whole family got together to do something-his father took the day off work and they would go hiking in the mountains or swimming at the lake or picnic in a meadow of wildflowers.

Then their parents had died and the twins had found themselves thrust into a world they knew next to nothing about. They'd had to learn how to survive and get enough to eat-but even so they'd always tried to make birthdays special. Pietro had even gotten in the habit of stealing cakes from bakeries-a different one every summer so no one would get suspicious-which they could then share in whatever bombed out wreck they happened to be living in. But once they'd volunteered for HYRDA, birthdays and other superfluous events held little to no standing in the eyes of the scientists. The past three birthdays had gone by completely unannounced-Pietro was only aware of their passage because he kept track of the days. He hadn't even been able to celebrate with Wanda back in those days; the wall between their cells was like an impenetrable barrier-sometimes they could call to each other and manage to make themselves heard, but usually someone would catch them before that could happen.

As for today…he didn't know what he was going to do. The Bartons wouldn't know that today was their birthday-the twins had wanted it that way so the family wouldn't feel obligated to buy something or go out of their way to make the day special, as Pietro knew they would want to do. They could have their own celebration after dinner; maybe he could convince Laura to let them make cookies to take outside and they could pretend it was one of their mother's cakes. He just knew that he had to do something to celebrate not only their reaching adulthood in one piece (which was nothing short of a miracle itself) but also their first birthday as Avengers.

It seemed pretty early; the first birds had just begun their morning chorus, while the clock on his wall read 6:26. He debated staying in his bed for a while longer, relishing in the feeling of having the whole day ahead of him and endless ways with which to fill it. He assumed Wanda would probably be up; she tended to be an even earlier riser than he was.

It couldn't hurt to go see if she was up yet.

In a flash, he was standing outside her closed bedroom door, listening to see if he could hear anything from the other side. He didn't, so he knocked tentatively. After a minute the door was wrenched open and Wanda beckoned him inside, smiling. "Happy birthday." she said, seated on the floor in the middle of the room with nine or ten photos spread out around her.

"Happy birthday." He took a seat next to her and glanced at the pictures. Then he realized that they were all pictures taken years ago, when his parents were still alive and he'd been part of a happy family. "Where did you get those?" He thought they'd all been confiscated by HYDRA, in the early days of the experiments.

"They were found downloaded on some HYDRA files, along with other personal effects from the other volunteers. I was able to make copies. They're not exactly the same, but-"

"They're perfect." And he meant it; as he looked at each of the snapshots he could almost feel himself being transported back in time to a past that felt like it belonged to someone else; there were pictures of the family shopping, going sledding in the winter, picking wildflowers in the spring, and just hanging out in their old house. He pointed to something in one corner of a picture. "Do you remember how our mother used to record our heights on the living room wall? Every year she would make another line, a little higher than the year before it."

"We used to be the same size." Wanda continued seamlessly. "But then you started to get taller than I was. I got so angry when that happened-"

"But I said that I was the older brother. And after that you calmed down-"

"Only a little bit. Only because I knew I could easily take you in a fight if it came to that."

"Don't overestimate yourself-"

She laughed. "We're adults now and yet we still argue like children."

"We should be able to keep some of our innocence, don't you think?"

"Not that there's much left to keep. Have you had coffee this morning?"

"No. Actually, I am extremely hungry. Let's see what kind of cereal we have left." Pietro said, leading the way downstairs.

The air was filled with the enticing smell of warm pancakes.

The twins exchanged glances. Laura only ever made pancakes for very special reasons.

Just then, Lila ran out of her room and handed Wanda a piece of paper. "Happy birthday!" she said happily.

"What the-" Pietro glanced at the piece of paper over his sister's shoulder. It depicted a seven (or so) layer birthday cake covered in little flowers and lots of polka dots. In a small child's careful handwriting someone had written Happy Birthday Wanda and Pietro! From, Lila. The rest of the card was covered in rainbows and little creatures that looked suspiciously like unicorns.

"Thank you so much!" Wanda said, reaching down to hug the little girl. "But how did you know that it was our birthday today?"

"Mommy and Daddy told me. They said you probably haven't celebrated a birthday in a really long time-so today we're going to celebrate with you! Come on-Mommy made pancakes!" Lila ran downstairs faster than Pietro would have thought possible for her.

The rest of the family was already in the kitchen, where Laura was dishing out plate after plate of fresh pancakes. "Happy birthday!" she said, handing them each a plate for breakfast. Pietro didn't know how many pancakes she'd given him; they were all obscured beneath a few layers of whipped cream.

"How did you know?" Pietro asked. It seemed so surreal-because things like this didn't happen to them, usually. He'd never had a surprise party thrown in his honor, much less a surprise birthday-and Wanda appeared just as confused as he felt.

"We checked SHIELD records. We figured you didn't want to make a big deal out of it-otherwise you probably would have told us sooner-so we decided to organize our own little celebration in secret." Clint explained. "So what do you think? Did we go overboard?"

Pietro took his first bite of pancake and changed his answer mid thought. "No, this is actually very nice. But we don't need anything like this-"

"Of course you do. You're turning eighteen, for heaven's sake. That's a pretty big birthday-and I doubt they were into that kind of thing at HYDRA. So, we are going to give you the birthday you missed out on for the last eight years-starting with breakfast. No, don't try to talk your way out of it. It's not going to work. We want to do something nice for you too-and you don't want to hurt our feelings, do you?"

They were outnumbered-and Lila was using the puppy eyes. In spite of himself, Pietro had a soft spot for the puppy eyes.

"I suppose it would be all right-just for this one day."

"Good." Clint handed them his laptop to look over. "I've compiled a list of places we usually go to on the kids' birthdays. You're welcome to look at those, or we can go into New York City if you'd like as well. It's all up to you two."

"We can choose?"

"Of course. Wherever you want to go."

"What do you think?" Pietro asked his sister, shifting the screen so Wanda would be able to see. There was so much to choose from-from zoos to outdoor gardens to beaches to shopping centers. "Where should we go?"

"Well, you've always talked about seeing the Atlantic."

"That was just a fantasy-"

"Good choice. To the beach it is." Clint said. "We'll be ready to head out in an hour."

 _I hope we didn't just make a very big mistake…_

But Clint was already organizing everything, Laura was making sandwiches they could have for when lunch rolled around, and Cooper and Lila were just jumping around in excitement. It was too late for him to take anything back-it seemed like everything was pretty much set in stone.

And in spite of himself, as he finished the last of his pancakes and grabbed an extra for the road, he realized that he was getting excited too.

~IT~

Pietro and Wanda got to pick the radio station for once-which Pietro couldn't be happier about. Instead of Laura's typical classical music, he was able to listen to hard core rock all the way to the beach-which almost never happened.

This early in the morning the beach wasn't that busy so they were able to find places to set up chairs and towels with ease. After making sure Cooper and Lila hadn't skimped on sun screen, the kids headed straight for the stormy surf-practically dragging the twins with them. The cold water was a shock to Pietro-but it woke him up and convinced him that this wasn't some kind of bizarre dream. The ocean was so massive-huge blue waves crashed against the sand with a fury that seemed almost primal. Of course, it didn't matter to Cooper and Lila who had seen things like this before. However, to the twins it was something new and almost a little bit frightening. It was very different from the Mediterranean Sea.

Cooper splashed him, making him (almost) curse in surprise-of course, then he focused on trying to make the little boy pay dearly. In about fifteen minutes, the girls had been roped in too. They spent hours on the water's edge, darting into and out of the waves, laughing until they could barely stand. Soon Pietro was soaked to the skin, covered in sand, and happier than he'd been in a long time.

Finally Laura called them in for sandwiches. They'd been in the water so much that everything tasted like sand to Pietro but it was food nonetheless. After lunch, they finally convinced Clint to go in the water with them-just for a little while.

Of course, that little while ended up being more than three hours and soon Clint was just as wet as the rest of them.

When they tired of being in the water, they played in the sand for a while-building sand castles and pyramids with columns and intricate paneling-or at least as intricate as they could make it. Clint helped as well, accompanying Lila up and down the beach to find rocks and shells to decorate their palaces.

Finally, Laura had to practically force all of them to dry off. They had reservations for dinner at a restaurant in town-which meant they had to go back to the farm and change into their nice clothes. Pietro was sad to leave; he would happily have spent the entire day at the beach lounging in the sand and playing in the surf, from sunup until sundown.

At least until he realized he'd gotten a really bad sunburn that really hurt when he put his shirt back on.

Cooper and Lila were extremely tired on the ride home; after asking for another Princess Rainbow Unicorn story, Lila practically fell asleep in Wanda's lap. When they got back to the farm, Pietro almost wished he didn't have to wake the little girl up; they looked so sweet sitting next to each other in the back seat. Wanda, capable of reducing even the strongest heroes to nothing but shivering wrecks, was surprisingly good with little children. Even Nathaniel seemed to cooperate with her-at least better than he cooperated with Pietro, which was to say he didn't cooperate at all. Cooper liked her well enough. And of course she was the older sister Lila had never had. "Mind if I take a picture?"

She nodded tiredly. "Just don't put it on Facebook."  
"Why would I do something like that? I'll use Instagram."

~IT~

Dinner was a very nice affair-a little on the fancy side, with candlelight and tables covered in velvet cloths, but nice nonetheless. However the atmosphere of the place was enough to make him exhausted and he was more than happy to get back to the farm and stay there.

They ended up watching _Star Wars: Return of the Jedi_ so Pietro could complete the series-and he expected that would be the end of it. It was getting late-by this time, Cooper and Lila were usually in bed. However, after two hours of sci-fi action violence, they didn't look tired at all (in fact, they seemed more awake than ever; they kept exchanging glances with their parents that Pietro couldn't quite interpret).

Finally, as the credits began to roll Clint stepped outside to get something-or rather two somethings. He returned with two garbage bags-one for each of the twins. "It's been a great day so far, but there's one last thing we have to do before we call it a night." He gestured to the trash bags. "Well? Are you going to open them?"

The twins opened the bags almost carefully, as though they were handling a bomb. Pietro wasn't sure what he was expecting to see-at this point he didn't think anything would surprise him.

And he was wrong, because the garbage bags were filled with packages.

Pietro's jaw dropped as he pulled out gift after gift, all wrapped in different colors of wrapping paper. There were so many of them-more than he thought he was entitled to and certainly more than he'd ever received at one time.

"What is all this?" Wanda asked, looking just as confused as he did as she examined a package wrapped in blue paper covered in red butterflies.

"For birthdays, it's customary that the birthday person-or people, I suppose-open gifts. We figured you had things for each other, but we wanted to make sure you really got the full birthday experience-so everyone pitched in. All the Avengers sent something-we got most of it at the party last week-and the rest of it is from us." Clint replied.

"How did we not see the packages?"

"I stored them in the bunker. And you weren't around when the others turned theirs in-Pietro took the kids to the pool and you were with Vision. It was too easy, really. Well? Open them up." Clint seemed just as excited as Cooper and Lila.

Pietro selected a package at random with a tag that read From Tony and tore all the paper off with one smooth motion. Inside the box was a pair of what looked like a normal pair of running shoes-but knowing Tony, of course they were more than that. A note tucked inside one of the shoes proclaimed that they were (experimental) rocket shoes, should (theoretically) work, and were not to be used indoors. He couldn't wait to test them out-but they would be waiting for him tomorrow morning. They were his, totally and completely. A gift on his eighteenth birthday.

The pile of discarded paper grew steadily higher and higher as the twins worked their way through their piles. There were all sorts of presents-books, games, even electronics. Wanda even got a new jacket to replace the one she'd worn in the Battle of Sokovia, which she still wore everywhere and was beginning to get a bit frayed around the hem and seams. In fact, there were so many things that Pietro didn't know where he would put them all or even what he would use first.

Finally, they were done and the living room was coated in a thin layer of paper (which, of course, Lila and Cooper were more than happy to clean up). Once the room was clean, they trooped off to help Laura with the cakes (apparently, she'd made two). That left the twins with Clint, to try and explain why they couldn't accept any of the wonders they'd received.

"You really didn't have to go to such great lengths-" Wanda started, examining a pair of diamond earrings that looked very, very real.

"Sure we do. You're a part of the team now. Might as well get used to it." Clint answered. "Do you like everything? I'm sure we have receipts for most things if we need to take anything back."

"No, it's all wonderful." Pietro said quickly. "It's just hard for us to imagine why anyone would…care."

"There's something you learn about the Avengers pretty quickly. We're more than a team. We're a family. A big, weird, and dysfunctional family, sure-but we're a family nonetheless. And family always looks out for each other. As for all the stuff from us, that's only to be expected. You've done a lot these past few weeks for the family-you've watched the kids, done stuff around the farm…of course, you've already heard all of this before, but you're great role models for the kids-"

"We weren't always." Wanda replied.

"Don't say that. Remember what I told you in Sokovia, in that store or whatever? It doesn't matter what you did or who you were? If you step out that door, you're an Avenger? Well, that was true. When you and Pietro fought on our side-fought to the very end, would have died for the cause-you proved yourselves. You redeemed yourselves. It doesn't matter what happened before. You were manipulated, lied to, and had to shoulder responsibilities no kids should ever have to deal with. Sure, you made some bad decisions, but we all do-and everyone deserves a second chance. We don't care about what you did before. Now you're part of the team and we just want to make sure you know that. You don't have to keep yourselves so closed off anymore. You're not all on your own. You can let us in. We're good at keeping secrets-and believe me, we've all had to fight our demons-whether in visions or in real life. None of us are perfect. We don't expect to be. We just try to make as few mistakes as possible. And when we do, we fix them. We look out for each other and we're there for each other. We're there for you. Understand? Your family just got a whole lot bigger."

And suddenly Pietro began to think that maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

"Thank you-for everything-"

"Don't mention it."

Then Laura called them in for cake. Pietro had to add ice cream cake to his list of new things-and it quickly became one of his new favorites. It was deliciously creamy-he was sure it hadn't existed in Sokovia even before the milk shortage. There were two cakes-his was blue and Wanda's was red.

Finally, at about midnight everyone started getting ready for bed. By the time the twins were finally able to regroup back in Pietro's room this time, the house had gone quiet again. They still had to exchange their gifts to each other. Wanda had gotten Pietro a book he'd been dropping hints about for the past few months while he had picked up a locket at the silversmith's for her. It wasn't of the highest quality, but it could hold two pictures. "Of course, I was thinking we could put in pictures of the two of us, but now…maybe we can put in some of the old pictures."

"That would be really nice. I love it. Thank you, Pietro." She hugged him tightly for just a moment before she started to walk out of the room.

"Wait-did you have a good birthday?" The whole day seemed like a dream-so perfect it was almost surreal.

"Yes. It was…amazing. What about you?"

"So did I. 'Night, Wanda. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Happy birthday, Pietro. Sweet dreams."

Ten minutes later, as he paged through his new book, Pietro realized that hands down, this had been his best birthday ever.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	18. A Temporary Guest

**Hey guys! First of all, I just want to thank everyone so much for all the nice reviews and birthday wishes. They were all so sweet and they really, really made my day! :)**

 **I know it's been a while since I updated, but I was really busy this week. I'll be busy next week and then on vacation the next week, so if there aren't a lot of updates that's why. After that, updates might be a little sparse because I'm getting two baby kittens (they're just two months old and really, really cute), and they'll need to get set up and used to my house.**

 **Thanks for all the follows and favorites. I'm so glad you all like the story! And now if only I could stop writing these really long author's notes…**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter One.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **This chapter comes from a prompt by Crazed Fangirl13.**

The next few days were unusually cool and rainy-although Pietro wasn't complaining. Sure, he loved the summer heat, but it was a lot hotter than it had ever been in Sokovia and it was taking him some time to get used to the heat. And then, of course, there were the times when Cooper and Lila shrugged off the heat like it was nothing-they said it even reached 100 degrees some days. Pietro couldn't imagine that. What he thought felt like at least 110 was really just 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Of course, that didn't stop them from going outside. There was always something new to see on the farm-whether it was a line of ducks crossing the path in front of the house all in a neat row or one of the Hammonds' cows giving birth. On top of that they always had the fields, the pool, and the hay barn-although the barn could get stifling in the afternoon.

One day, a large grey truck arrived at the farm carrying…something. Pietro, Wanda, Cooper, and Lila took turns guessing what it might contain since Clint and Laura weren't telling-Cooper was sure that it held explosives while Lila was leaning more towards either a baby unicorn, a baby dragon, or both.

The truck headed out to one of the far pastures on the other side of the farm, where a man climbed out of the cab and opened the back of the cab to allow something to walk out. At first, the twins weren't sure what it was-until Cooper and Lila started to cheer. "It's a bull!" Lila said.

Cooper ran back inside the house, where Clint was finishing his morning coffee and Laura was washing the dishes. "What is a bull doing in the back pasture?"

"They're here already?" Laura asked, going to look out the back window. "They said they wouldn't be coming until this afternoon."

"The Hammonds are going out of town for a few days and they wanted us to watch George while they're gone." Clint explained. "He's just going to be staying out back. He's not for you guys to play with and/or provoke-they haven't trained him to be around people yet."

"How long is he going to be here?" Lila asked.

"A week-two at the most. Now, why don't you go and see if they need anything?"

As it turned out, the workers were almost finished getting the bull situated. It was pretty large-only a little shorter than Pietro-but to Cooper and Lila's disappointment it didn't really seem to care about mauling them.

"I thought bulls liked to kill you." Cooper whispered as they watched the bull-George, Pietro vaguely remembered-nose around the pasture and eat grass disdainfully.

"Not all of them." Wanda replied. "It's probably just getting used to its new space."

Just then, one of the workers asked the twins if they were Avengers.

Pietro nodded. He was used to this sort of thing by now. Mostly. Every so often-especially in New York City, when he'd lived in Avengers Tower for a little while, people had approached him on the streets all the time asking for autographs. At first he hadn't known how to respond-he was just a teenager from Sokovia who had suddenly been thrust into a world he had no idea how to handle-even comprehend. It was bad enough that he had to deal with Apple devices everywhere he looked, buildings that towered into the clouds, and bacon wrapped cheeseburgers-now the whole world seemed to know his name. Then again, he supposed that was an occupational hazard of being an Avenger. And on top of that, he didn't think he really deserved their praise. He'd saved the world, yes-but he'd also tried to destroy it. He wasn't worthy of all the attention-by all rights, he should have been arrested or worse. But the other Avengers would have none of that. They insisted that both he and Wanda had left whatever crimes they'd committed back in Sokovia-and as Sokovia had been vaporized, they were able to start over with a clean slate. Of course, that was easier said than done. The twins had had to retrain their brains to change their way of thinking about pretty much everything. But they were making progress. Slowly, but they'd get there. "Yes, we are."

They signed autographs for both the men and watched them drive away into the country. "Are you two famous?" Lila asked as their truck disappeared into the distance.

"You could say that." Wanda replied. "Just not all the time."

"Must be nice."

"It's not all that it's cracked up to be. Really."

They watched the bull for a little while longer. It didn't do anything except eat and walk around and soon everyone started to get bored.

"Let's go to the pool." Cooper said, just as it started to drizzle.

"It's raining." Pietro answered.

"So? There's no lightning." The two kids scampered off to get their swimsuits.

"You know, he kind of reminds me of you when you were his age." Wanda said as they watched them go. "Always excited, always curious, always determined, and always absolutely unable to take no for an answer."

"They're all good qualities to have." Pietro replied. "And I still don't take no for an answer. I'll race you to the pool."

"You don't even have your swimsuit on!" he could hear her calling from behind him.

"Logistics, logistics. I'm getting wet anyway!"

~IT~

"Can I poke it with a stick?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's probably not a good idea to poke a potentially homicidal bull with a stick."

"I've grown up on a farm. I know about things like this!" Cooper said impatiently, drumming his fingers on the wooden fence post. "It's not potentially homicidal. It's just a nice bull. Aren't you, George?"

The bull didn't look up from where it was eating more grass, looking slightly depressed.

Pietro sighed. Cooper and Lila had insisted on coming out to see the bull that morning, even though it seemed like it hadn't moved more than two inches in twelve hours. It didn't seem to particularly like them, but it didn't really seem to care that they were staring at it either. "Let's go do something else. Who's up for going swimming?"

"Mommy says it's too cold." Lila answered.

 _Of course._ "Well, how about we leave George alone?"

"Do we have to?"

"Yes, you do."

"Fine. If we have to." Lila went into the house and pulled out her box of Barbies. "Let's play with my dolls. This bull is a disappointment."

"What did you expect it to do?"

"Can we train it to bull fight, with the red cloaks and stuff?"

"I don't think that's the best idea. What if someone got hurt?"

"Yeah. You're probably right. Mommy and Daddy wouldn't like that."

And Pietro thought that would be the end of it. Soon enough, either Cooper or Lila would get tired of the bull or it would have to go back to the Hammonds. Either way, in just a few days he would be free of it.

The next day, the twins spent almost five hours writing out all their thank you notes. There were a lot of them-Pietro was still trying to find room for all of his gifts-but they were determined to thank everybody. What the Avengers had done for them was amazingly kind and thoughtful. Pietro was finally starting to feel like a real member of the team-and to the best of his knowledge, so was Wanda.

Maybe they could start over, as so many others had.

Maybe SHIELD really could grant them a second chance.

Of course, Pietro's hand started to cramp after a while but at least he didn't have to hear anything about George. Both kids had somehow gotten it into their minds that it would be a great idea to provoke the bull, even though they'd been specifically told not to.

"Were we really as bad as they are when we were younger?" Pietro asked his sister one night when they were out on the back porch watching the kids watch George.

"I don't know. I don't think so. But I'm sure if we had actually gotten the opportunity to provoke a bull…" Wanda didn't really look up from her book. Pietro hated it when she did that. When she read, she _really_ got into it.

"No. We wouldn't have been that dumb."

"I probably would have known better. As for you…I'm not so sure."

"Shallow. Very shallow."

"I suppose that children will be children."

"I guess so." Cooper and Lila would never try anything like that-especially not on their own. If he just kept an eye on them they would be fine. "I just can't wait for that bull to leave."

"Why, are you sick of him already?"

"No, I'm sick of Cooper and Lila asking me whether or not they can poke it with a stick. How come they never ask you any of this stuff?"

"I tell the stories. You manage the fun."

"And when did we come up with this arrangement?"

"We've always had this arrangement."

"You're impossible."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

~IT~

The next day was George's last full day at the farm and Cooper and Lila had figured out that if they wanted to do something with the bull their window of opportunity was growing very limited. So they took a more logical approach to things and switched tactics.

"We've decided that we don't want to provoke the bull anymore." Cooper said after his daily race against Pietro.

"Good." Pietro replied. He'd been thinking about exploring the woods on one side of the property. He'd been in there once or twice to get mushrooms or pick berries, but never for a long period of time. And it seemed like (in books at least) strange things always happened in forests. Maybe he could find a portal to Wonderland or something.

"We want you to provoke the bull for us."

"No."

"I told you he wouldn't go for it." Lila said, almost disappointedly.

"I dare you to provoke the bull." Cooper said, smiling a smile that was more than a little creepy.

"No thank you. I'm afraid I'll have to turn the dare down." Pietro replied calmly. George had pretty large horns; getting speared on one of them could potentially hurt a lot, if it didn't kill him.

"Are you scared?" Cooper asked.

"No. I just don't feel like provoking a bull today."

"You're scared."

"No I'm not."

"Then prove it. Just poke it with a stick or something. Nothing major."

This was playground taunting, in all honesty. Pietro sighed and exchanged a glance with Wanda, who was clearly telling him _You're not seriously considering this, are you?_

He reminded himself that he was eighteen now. Things like this shouldn't bother him. He was better than this. Petty taunts shouldn't bother him.

But they did. And surely just one poke with a stick wouldn't incite a wave of bull rage.

You know, theoretically.

So he began to walk over to the bull pen with the rest of his small 'posse' following him: Cooper and Lila excitedly whispering amongst themselves and Wanda just shaking her head (probably thinking _My brother is such an idiot)._ But he could run fast, if things went south. He would be fine either way.

He glanced in the general direction of the house to make sure he didn't have an unwanted audience. He didn't, so he vaulted the fence in one easy move. Instantly, George swiveled to look at him with large brown eyes. Pietro selected a sick that was pretty long, so he wouldn't have to put himself in harm's way more than he had to.

And then he pulled out a red blanket Cooper had given him and waved it around a couple of times. Nothing would happen, probably-this wasn't a bull they used to bull fight or anything.

For a second nothing happened. Then the bull's eyes seemed to harden, it pawed at the grass-and then it charged Pietro faster than he would have thought possible.

Of course, Pietro was also a little faster than normal.

He ran to the edge of the pasture and leapt the fence, landing hard on his side in his haste. George slammed into the wooden sides of the pasture fence. The entire fence seemed to shudder alarmingly and for one terrible second Pietro was forced to ponder what would happen if the bull broke through and chased him around the farm. But everything held and George stayed safely inside the pasture, preferring to simply glare sullenly.

"Are you all right?" Wanda asked, helping him stand.

"I'm fine. Nothing's broken or twisted."

"You shouldn't have done that."

"I fulfilled the dare."

Meanwhile, Cooper and Lila were practically beside themselves with laughter. "I didn't think you'd actually do that!" Cooper said, laughing so hard he was practically crying.

"Of course I did. I wasn't about to chicken out, right?"

"We knew that would happen." Cooper answered.

"You knew a bull was going to charge me and you still let me go in the pen anyway?"

"We were raised on a farm. Of course we knew that would happen. But you didn't. That was so funny!"

"Sure. I almost died, but…whatever. Laugh all you want. I don't really care."

"Good job!" Lila said, giving him a hug.

Pietro allowed himself a smile for the first time since the entire ordeal started. "As long as the two of you promise not to do anything like that ever again…"

"We promise."

"Then I might be able to allow myself to forgive you."

They went back to the house for lunch. Cooper and Lila ran ahead as always so they could fight over who would get to feed Nathaniel his baby food. It had quickly become one of the most coveted jobs in the house.

"It was a little funny, actually." Wanda said as they walked. "You flew out of that pasture like you had fire on your heels."

"I'm glad you found it so entertaining."

"You know, if something had gone wrong I would have stunned that bull, right? I wouldn't have let anything bad happen to you."

"I know. You're always looking out for me. And I look out for you."

"But next time don't take childish dares. You should be above that. We have to set an example for them, Pietro-and harassing bulls is not setting a good example."

"I'll try." _Easier said than done._

~IT~

George had to leave the next morning. The same workers came to pick him up-but this time they wanted autographs for their assorted family members and friends. Of course, the twins didn't mind.

Cooper and Lila were sad to see the bull go. "Can we get our own bull?" Cooper asked over dinner-chicken and mashed potatoes that melted in Pietro's mouth.

"No." Clint said automatically.

"Please? Lila and I would take care of it and everything."

"No."

"Pleeeease?"

"Not right now. By the way, nice jump over the fence today Pietro. You had some great distance."

"Thank you." Pietro replied-because honestly, what else could he say? Of course they knew what had happened with George. They always seemed to know what was going on around the farm. "It takes a certain amount of skill to land it just right."

"Oh, I'm sure. Although I assume you've learned a lesson about bulls?"

Pietro assumed he would never have to meet a bull again-but knowing the Avengers, he couldn't be sure. "Never try to bull fight if you're not a professional."

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	19. Paint

**Sorry about the long wait, anyone who is still reading this. I wanted to have this chapter up before but the last couple of weeks have been very busy for me (that's also why this chapter isn't as long as most of the others). My schedule should slow down slightly after this so I'm going to try and update a little more. Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. Keep them coming-they really motivate me :)**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

"So, what do you think about this teal color?"

"I think it looks a little too dark. What about you, Clint?"

"Yeah. I agree with Laura. Too blue."

Laura had finally announced that she couldn't work in her ruined kitchen without losing her mind so they'd begun the remodeling process. Clint and the twins had worked on scrubbing at the worst of the burn marks, but that hadn't done much. Eventually, they just decided to pain over it and reinstall a few old fashioned appliances while they were at it. To help them do a good job, Laura had hired a professional designer so they could look at paint swatches and decide on a couple of colors. The twins were playing Legos with Cooper and Lila while Nathaniel 'played' nearby, but they could still hear everything going on inside the kitchen.

"I don't know. I was thinking more of a nice yellow." Laura answered. "You know, something that could kind of reflect the sunshine…"

"I see what you mean." The designer, Janna, rummaged around in her bag and pulled out samples of yellow paint. "I would guess you'd want something lighter."

"But not too light…That one looks nice. Clint, what do you think?"

"It looks fine." It was obvious that Clint was less than present-probably wishing he could be outside fishing or something. It was a beautiful day out-it had rained for the past four days and everyone was starting to go a little bit crazy.

"I think we'll go with that yellow-but I want to get a few more opinions first." Laura turned toward the living room where Cooper and Lila were building with Legos listlessly and trying to pretend they weren't eavesdropping. "Do you want to come in here for a moment?"

Of course, that sounded interesting. Everyone went into the kitchen-Wanda stopped to pick up Nathaniel before they left. He hadn't yet learned how to crawl of course, but sometimes he really looked like he wanted to.

"What do you think of this paint color?" Laura asked, tapping the paint swatch.

"I like it." Lila said. "It looks sunny."

"Yeah. It's cool." Cooper replied. "But we could we maybe do some black instead? With red lines, so it looks like a race car?"

"…We'll consider that." Janna said hesitantly.

"Pietro? Wanda? Any thoughts?" Laura said before the designer could conclude their meeting.

"It looks nice." Wanda said. She didn't know much about interior design, but she thought the kitchen might look nice painted yellow. Pietro nodded in agreement.

"Then it looks like we're settled. Yellow it is."

"All right. I'll get right on that." Janna said, stuffing papers into her already overflowing briefcase. Wanda didn't fail to miss the almost disapproving glance she sent at the twins as she packed up. Of course, the original Avengers team was legendary. All of its members were instant celebrities almost anywhere they went-in fact, that was what had inspired Clint to build the farm-and they'd all become legends in their own right. Compared to them, the twins were still very new and relatively unknown. Of course, they still turned heads sometimes when they went shopping in town-but for very different reasons. When most people looked at them they didn't see superheroes-they saw yet more Sokovian refugees.

They all saw Janna to the door. "See you soon." Laura said as the designer put on her designer jacket and clutched her designer purse.

"Yes-you'll hear from me when I have everything in order. But I was meaning to ask you about the twins. Are they a part of the family?" Her tone, one part morbid curiosity and three parts disgust, said exactly what she thought of that idea.

Clint and Laura exchanged a look. "Yes they are." Clint said finally, after a suitable amount of time had passed. "And we're very happy to have them here. Do you have a problem with them?"

"Of course not." Janna said quickly. She left soon after.

For a while everyone stood in the entry hall in silence, watching her shiny Mercedes Benz roar down the dirt road and disappear into the distance with a small cloud of dust. No one spoke; even Lila and Cooper could tell that something wasn't right and kept quiet accordingly.

"You know what?" Laura asked. "I don't think we need a professional designer. We can take care of the kitchen ourselves."

"Are you sure?" Pietro asked. He didn't want them to do anything rash just because of a thoughtless comment. He was used to them by now, of course.

"Of course." Clint said, picking up the conversation. "I mean, we all know how to paint. That's all there is to it."

"I'll go call Janna and tell her that her services are no longer required." Laura said as she went back into the ruined kitchen. As of late, they'd been grilling out and having picnics on the back lawn; Pietro was really going to miss those nights when Laura didn't start dinner until the sun went down and they were able to eat out under the stars. Clint knew all the constellations and he loved to point them out for the others to see; Pietro was even starting to find some on his own every now and them.

"You didn't have to do that." Pietro said once she had left. "We're used to things like that."

"You shouldn't be. What Janna did was rude. Not everyone is like that, but of course there are always those people who just ruin everything for everyone else. It's fine. We can do this ourselves. Don't worry about it." With that he went back into the kitchen to help Laura start the lunches, as if that was the end of the matter. Pietro and Wanda exchanged glances but didn't say anything.

~IT~

The next few days were more than a little hectic. There were paint and brushes to pick up, Youtube tutorials to watch, and blueprints to draw up. While the Bartons did hire professionals to install the new oven and refrigerator, they'd be doing all the painting by themselves-which Pietro was more than a bit wary about. But Clint and Laura seemed to have their minds dead set on it.

Finally, the day for painting arrived. Everyone had gotten their own wall space to paint-even Cooper and Lila. Laura and Wanda had done most of the priming the night before, so they were all set to go. They'd decided on two colors: a sunny yellow to be the main focus of the room and a sea blue to add accents. They had also bought a thick roll of painter's tape to cordon off sections-which was probably Lila's favorite part of the whole affair. "Is the kitchen going to be finished in time for my birthday?" she asked just before they got started. Lila's birthday was mere days away and everyone knew it; Lila would tell anyone who would listen that she would soon be six (which was a much more dignified age than five).

"Yes-we're going to paint this all today." Clint explained. "Does everyone have their assignments? Remember to paint the way they did in the video and stay inside the painter's tape. Cooper and Lila, please don't pick at the tape. We'll pull it off at the very end. Anyone have any questions? No? Good. Let's get started."

They worked slowly and methodically, painting the room section by section. Cooper and Lila soon got the hang of it and were painting like pros-the room was finished by midafternoon and it looked spotless. As for everyone else…well, not so much. Everyone's clothes were stained with blue and yellow. Pietro had a thick line of paint across the middle of his forehead, close to his hair. Lila's pigtails were dipped in blue and Clint's jacket with the SHIELD insignia in one corner was covered in yellow. Laura insisted everyone had to take showers before they would be allowed inside the house again on her nice wood floors. It didn't matter; everyone had had a good time and the kitchen finally looked respectable again.

Outside in the backyard, Pietro and Wanda took turns spraying the kids with the hose until they were all soaking wet and laughing. Pietro couldn't remember a time he'd laughed so hard over nothing.

Clint watched them play as he dried off from his shower and threw his jacket in the laundry. It was pretty much ruined; those paint stains wouldn't wash out easily. But it was like one of the merit badges he'd gotten during the six months he'd taken Boy Scouts years ago-they had painted the kitchen and lived to tell the tale.

Just then, his phone rang. SHIELD. He picked up on the second ring. "Can't a man take an indefinite hiatus in peace?"

"Believe me Barton, I wouldn't be calling if I didn't have to." Steve replied. "We're just wondering exactly when we can expect the twins at the base tonight. It's starting to get a little late."

"What do you mean?" Then Clint realized exactly what day it was and swore loudly. "I was supposed to send them back today, wasn't I?"

"I'm afraid so. You forgot, didn't you?"

"Completely." He took another look out the window; the summer air rang with their laughter. The house would be lonely without the twins. He could have sworn they'd had more time. "I guess I can send them tomorrow." No one would be happy about that. Lila would be upset that Wanda would miss her birthday and the twins would have only a night to pack all of their things, but they could make it work.

There was silence for a moment on the other line. "Are they still having a good time?" Steve asked.

"Yeah. The kids adore them."

"And what about you and Laura? Getting sick of them yet?"

"Of course not. They're great kids-always helpful and kind. We can have them watch the kids for a few hours and trust the house will still be in one piece when we get back. It's been great. They feel like part of the family."

Steve sighed. "You're trying to guilt trip me into giving you more time, aren't you?"

"Of course not."

"But you are."

"Maybe a little bit. I think I'm getting close to undoing whatever damage HYDRA did to them when they were under experimentation. I just want to give them a chance to be normal kids-well, adults now technically. I think you guys forget that sometimes. Sure, they're Avengers, but they're barely more than kids. They deserve a little normality once in a while, you know?"

"Fine. You've convinced me. How much extra time do you need?"

"How much can you give me?"

"How about until the end of August? We'll talk then and figure something out. How's that?"

Far more time than Clint had been expecting. "Sounds great. Thanks Steve."

"Anytime. You know, I think you do have a point. Besides, they can miss the move to the new headquarters. We don't need them on site just yet. Have fun."

"Don't worry. We will."

"This was only supposed to be a two week recovery period, remember?"

"Plans change. You know that better than anyone, Cap."

"Don't push it, Barton. Wish Lila a happy birthday, will you? I hear that it's coming up."

"Next week already. They grow up so fast. Have a good night. Say hello to everyone for me, will you?"

"Sure thing."

Clint hung up just as he heard Laura calling him from downstairs to say that dinner was ready.

~IT~

The long day had exhausted almost everyone; the kids were practically falling asleep after dinner and went to sleep soon after. That left the adults to watch movies.

They'd just decided to watch _22 Jump Street,_ so Laura decided to make some popcorn while the others started the movie. She'd been gone for about five minutes but Wanda didn't put in the DVD. She was too busy having a near silent conversation with Pietro. _Should we ask him?_

 _I don't see why not_ Pietro replied. _Do you want to ask or should I?_

 _You can._

Pietro cleared his throat. "Clint, is what you said the day that designer came over true?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, not looking up from his laptop screen.

"You said something about us…being family. You said it on our birthday too, but we kind of thought you just said it to be nice. Did you mean that or were you just trying to offset that woman?"

Clint took a moment as if to gather his thoughts. "I meant it. Both times. I still do. Listen, I grew up in a situation not much better than yours. I was part of a circus of criminals. I did a lot of things I'm not proud of-in fact, I'm so glad that Laura married me even with all this baggage I carry around. But, all of that notwithstanding, SHIELD saw that I was still a good person in bad circumstances and they gave me a second chance. At first, it was odd being an agent. I didn't trust anyone-you couldn't, in the circus. I made a lot of silly mistakes and messed up on more than a few missions. But after a while I began to get to know the other agents I worked with-what they liked, what they didn't like, what made them tick…and I realized that family doesn't start or end in blood. Family is about more than what's in your veins. It's about whether or not you trust someone-whether or not you care about them. I believe that families can always expand and grow-and ours just wasn't big enough. You two have become part of it. And I don't let anyone insult my family and get away with it."

Just then Laura came in with the popcorn and they started the movie. However, Pietro was only half watching. Even after two months it still felt strange to think that someone cared.

If this was what being in a family felt like-movies and popcorn, kindness, freedom from judgment, laughter, and an acceptance of who you were and what you could be-it really wasn't that bad after all.

Pietro didn't realize just how much he'd missed the feeling. Of course, he loved Wanda with everything he was and everything he would be, but it had just been them for so long. Now that he knew he could, he wanted to make his family bigger. Not all at once though-little by little. Bit by bit. Person by person.

And this wasn't a bad place to start.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	20. Fishing Trip

**Hi everyone!**

 **I am now the proud owner of two new kittens! They're just under three months old and are super, super cute :) I might not update because I'm too busy watching them play XD. Anyway, thank you for all the follows, reviews, and favorites. They really make my day. Keep them coming!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

 **Enjoy!**

As the summer drew on toward August, Clint began to bring up the idea of a guys only fishing trip at a pond near the farm that supposedly had a lot of good fishing spots.

Cooper was not on board with this idea. At all.

"I don't like fishing!" he pouted, cranking out math problems on his workbook page with an almost unhealthy amount of vigor. "I don't want to go on a fishing trip!"

"Sure you do. It'll be fun." Clint said unconcernedly. "We'll see who can catch the biggest fish."

"Fishing is boring."

"It just takes patience."

"I don't have any patience."

"Then it's high past time you learned some."

"I think it'll be fun." Laura said as she stirred the minestrone soup they were having for dinner. "You should go."

Cooper sighed, as if he could tell that the battle was already lost. "Can I bring my DS?"

"No electronics. We're going to rough it the old fashioned way."

Cooper groaned and buried his head in his hands.

"Have fun." Pietro said absentmindedly. He was polishing his new athletic shoes, though they were already spotless. He was determined to keep them looking pristine for as long as he could-which meant he usually cleaned them every time he wore them, no matter what. Even if he just walked down to the mailbox to get the mail he would still wipe his shoes down thoroughly with a clean rag.

"You're coming with us."

"What?" Pietro had assumed it would just be a father/son thing. He'd never gone fishing before, much less camping.

"Trust me. You'll have a good time." Laura said, ladling out bowls of soup. "We can hold down the fort while you're gone." Lila nodded happily, bent almost double over her coloring book.

"If you're sure."

"Positive." Wanda laughed. "Have an adventure."

Pietro didn't think he could say no after that without looking like a jerk-so he good naturedly agreed to go. Of course, he didn't really know what he was getting himself into-but considering all he'd been through, he didn't think it could be that bad.

And yet he began to wonder after he found himself in a truck that seemed to be close to falling apart and was filled with tents, fishing equipment, and far more flashlights than seemed strictly necessary driving down the Interstate with classic rock blaring from its speakers. Occasionally Clint would sing along while Cooper tried to read a magazine, groaning in annoyance every few minutes. "He always makes me go on one of these trips." he explained glumly. "Every single year. And they're always

"Well, this one won't be." Pietro said confidently.

"Why not?"

"Because this time there's three of us."

After about three hours of driving through heavy forest, they reached the campsite-Sunny Acres Campsites and State Forest.

"Who names a state forest Happy Acres?" Pietro asked as Clint checked them in. Cooper just shrugged.

"All right. Our lot is number 12." Clint said, reading from a sheaf of brochures he held in his hand. "And there are raccoons, so we'll have to lock up our trash at night just to be safe." He stopped the truck at a small clearing in the middle of the forest. There was nothing in it, besides a wooden sign proclaiming the number 12 that someone had hammered into the ground.

"What do we do first?" Pietro asked.

"We put up the tent." Clint pulled a complicated mess of fabric and string out of the back of the truck. "I think I remember how to do this…but I'll check the instructions just to be sure." He handed Pietro a manual. "Walk us through it."

Pietro began to read off instructions that didn't make any sense to him. However, Clint and Cooper seemed to know what they were doing and the tent went up without much trouble. It was a dreary and drizzly day and Pietro would have been content to stay in the tent for the rest of the afternoon with a couple books-but of course Clint had other ideas.

"We're only gone for three days. Do you really want to spend one of those days cooped up in a tent?" he asked.

"Yes." Cooper muttered. "It's raining out."

"A little rain never hurt anybody. Let's go for a hike."

That seemed moderately acceptable for everyone involved, so they put on raincoats and followed a small path that was barely more than a deer path lined in gravel. If he would have been anywhere else, Pietro would have been miserable. He hated getting wet. But he was surprised to find that he actually had a good time. Clint knew all about the forest-he could tell what kind of tracks belonged to which animals and he could also tell the direction just by reading the moss on the trunks of trees.

"My dad used to bring me out here a lot, when I was really little." Clint explained. "He loved being outdoors-and after a while, so did I. Since then, I always try to come out here at least once a year. Usually it works out…but sometimes work gets in the way."

By the time they returned to the campsite, the rain had started to let up. Things had mostly dried by the time Clint suggested they start dinner-which included roasting chicken over an open fire. Pietro learned how to start a fire-and how to properly cook chicken. He also learned that everything tastes better when cooked over an open flame.

He went to sleep wondering what Clint would have in store for them the next day.

~IT~

As soon as the boys left, Laura pulled out a sheet of paper. "We have three days to ourselves before they get back. I suggest we make the most of every single minute of it. Any ideas?"

Lila stretched her hand into the air. "Can we plant some flowers?" There was a part of the garden that Laura had reserved for flowers-unfortunately, she'd never gotten around to planting anything and the plot of land had been empty all summer.

"Sure." Laura wrote that down. "What else?"

"Can we watch horror movies?"

"No. What else?"

"Can you sew me a princess dress?"

"I thought I already did that."

"You sewed me a green dress. My favorite color is yellow, Mommy."

Laura sighed. "Fine. What else?"  
"We can go to the big library and get some new books."

"Excellent. Wanda, is there anything you'd like to get accomplished while the guys are away?"

Wanda had to think about it for a second. Her first instinct was to say no, but she happened to look outside towards the tree house. They hadn't used it much since the sleepover and it was beginning to fall into disrepair. "We could fix up the treehouse and make it look really amazing."

Lila nodded excitedly. "I like that idea! Can we do that, Mommy?"

Laura laughed and wrote it down. "I don't see why not. We can drive into town tomorrow and get everything you need."

"Can we get posters and wallpaper and things like that?"

"Sure. We can handle it, don't you think?"

"Yeah. We'll be fine."

Laura put the list on the refrigerator, where it would be front and center. "Looks like we have a lot to do in not a lot of time. I think we can get it all done though, don't you think?"

Lila nodded. "This is going to be fun."

~IT~

The next day was strictly for fishing. Clint was up at five in the morning so they could catch a round of fish before breakfast-which meant Pietro was up much earlier than he would have liked to be.

"Where is the nearest Starbucks?" he asked, barely able to open his eyes. He'd learned from experience that in the case of coffee shortages, Starbucks was the next best thing. He had been meaning to try a caramel mocha with extra whipped cream.

"About three hours away. Kid, we're going to have to survive without coffee for a few days."

Pietro wasn't sure that was possible.

They had breakfast on the boat-simple peanut butter sandwiches because they didn't have time to make pancakes. It was a quiet morning; a loon cried far out on the water but other than that the air was still. Clint seemed almost giddy with excitement. "Excellent fishing conditions." he remarked, baiting his own line and casting it over the side before he helped Cooper secure his own bait.

Cooper wrinkled his nose as he watched the worm squirming and flailing on the end of its hook. "It's all slimy."

"That's what happens when you live in dirt your entire life." Clint tied it on with a flourish. "There you go. Do you need help casting the line?"

"No thanks. I'm fine." Cooper threw out his line expertly; it landed with a soft splash and the bobber rocked with the current far out at sea.

Pietro was trying and failing to bait his own hook. Every time he though he got the worm tied on it would either fall off or break in half.

"Let me see." Clint said, securing the worm with a tight knot. "Do you know how to cast a line?"

Pietro had learned by example. Of course, his cast wasn't as perfect as Cooper and Clint's had been, but it was very good all things considered.

Then all that was left to do was wait.

Clint had brought a magazine about (you guessed it) fishing, which he read intently as he calmly kept one practiced eye on his bobber. Cooper was also reading a book, though he looked like he was really missing his DS, and Pietro was trying to get into his own book. Of course, he never really had the patience to read books-unless it was very late at night and he had nothing better to do and/or couldn't get to sleep-so he didn't own many himself. He'd grabbed the first book that he could find off of Wanda's bookshelf and now he was wondering if he should have made a different choice. It was all about American history-which wasn't exactly his favorite topic.

He was midway through the signing of the Constitution when Cooper's bobber disappeared. As it happened, he was the first one to notice it. "I think you got a bite."

Cooper yelled something unintelligible and made a leap for his pole. He began to reel it in with an almost wild abandon. "I got a bite, Dad! I bet it's a really big fish!"

"Hold it firmly!" Clint said. "You've got him, Cooper!"

Pietro watched with the same excitement as the rest as Cooper pulled up his hook….

…to reveal a fish about the size of Pietro's index finger.

Cooper's face fell. "Aw."

"Let him go. He's too small." Clint said, carefully disentangling the fish from the hook. "Don't worry. The next one will be bigger."

They settled down to wait some more. Clint was the next to get a bite, reeling in a good sized perch. "We can eat this one." he said, laying the fish down in a bucket of ice for them to take back to the campsite.

After that, nothing else happened for a very long time. Pietro began to grow restless and tired of nothing happening. No more fish bit-and certainly no more fish were caught. The day grew hotter as the sun moved across the sky and soon he wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable.

"It's so hot." Cooper said as he wiggled his line in the water hoping for a bite.

"It's not too bad." Clint said, though his own forehead was covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

Just then, Pietro felt a tug on his fishing pole. At first, he thought it was just the current and he didn't pay much attention to it.

Until his bobber went completely underwater.

"You've got a bite!" Clint exclaimed at the same time Cooper yelled "Reel it in, Pietro! Reel it in!"

Pietro began to reel in the fish as hard as he could, putting all his strength into the fishing pole. It heaved and shuddered underneath him, as though trying to work against him. It was obvious the fish wasn't going to give up without a fight.

Then again, Pietro had always been a fighter.

With one last almighty wrench the hook broke free of the water to reveal a fish even bigger than Clint's. It was still alive, flailing around in the air and soaking the small boat.

Clint knew what to do; carefully reeling the fish in he knocked it against the side of the boat a few times until it finally stopped struggling and went limp. "Nice job, kid." he said as he added the fish to the bucket. "That's huge!" Cooper said in awe, looking at the giant fish. Its silver scales reflected the sun's rays, making it seem like there were dozens of tiny Coopers instead of only one.

"Want me to take a picture of it and send it to your sister?" Clint asked.

"Sure." Pietro grinned broadly as he held the fish up for the whole world to see. He was Pietro Maximoff-brother, Avenger, archer-in-training, and now expert fisherman.

It seemed like there was nothing he couldn't do.

If Wanda was here, he knew she'd be saying that he was too cocky for his own good. And maybe he was. But he really didn't care either way.

After that, they caught all sorts of fish-big ones, smaller ones, and ones that were so small they had to be thrown back in. Of course, Clint had the best luck-but Pietro and Cooper both caught a substantial amount of fish of their own. Cooper even caught the biggest fish-a large bass that he could barely reel in because it was bigger than he was. He celebrated like he'd just won the lottery. "Look at my fish! It's huge!"

By the time the boat finally moored at the dock, everyone was tired but elated-and their bucket was full of fish. Cooper carried his, scales, and all, like a badge of honor.

"Was that as boring as you thought it would be?" Pietro asked as they cleaned the fish back at the campsite.

Cooper shrugged. "Maybe fishing isn't that bad after all."

~IT~

The girls spent the morning gardening and the afternoon in town deciding what would and would not be suitable for their hideout. There was wallpaper to decide on, pictures to hang, and boards to buy for the new addition-a balcony.

They planted a myriad of new flowers: roses, tulips, lilacs, and forget-me-nots. Lila _almost_ started a dirt war-but luckily Wanda was able to get her to stop before things could escalate. Laura had picked up the starter plants the night before and it was a small matter to get everything planted and weeded.

"It looks really pretty." Lila said, examining their handiwork. Laura had come outside a few times to check their progress; every so often she would move a plant a few inches to the left so it would get more sunlight or have to compete with fewer weeds but she always maintained they were doing a great job.

"I think so too." What had once been an empty plot of land was now brimming with life.

"Did you have flowers in Sokovia?" Lila thought about Sokovia as an almost imaginary place; it couldn't really exist. It was too different from her home; too much like something out of a horror story.

"Yes. There were many of them-even more than the ones you have here. My parents belonged to a community garden and I loved to go with them to tend our plants. The air always smelled like growing things and there were flowers of every color, size, and description." If she closed her eyes, it always came back to her so clearly. She could pretend she was back in Sokovia, in the very golden days of her childhood. It wasn't exactly that she missed the place itself; it was cold, hard, and tough as rock after occupation after occupation after coup. But she missed the place it had once been-and the feeling of home it had given her. She had signed up to save Sokovia-only to realize too late that there was nothing left to save.

She felt a hand tug on her shirt, pulling her back to reality. "You're sad again." Lila said in that intuitive yet forward way young children seem to have.

"Yes, I suppose I am."

"Why?"

"I'm just remembering something sad."

"Oh. Is a hug going to make you feel better?"

"I'm not sure-but you can try."

Obediently, Lila hugged her so tightly Wanda had trouble breathing. But she was right-it did the trick. "Mommy says hugs can fix almost anything."

"Your mother is an extremely smart woman."

~IT~

Pietro fished all day the next day. The temperature was cooler so the boat was more comfortable than it had been the previous day. Of course, they didn't have as much luck-Clint said that good fishing days were very, very rare-but they all had fun.

That night he used Clint's cell phone to call Wanda. The reception was spotty, but it did the trick. "I caught a fish."

"I saw." she said. He was surprised to realize how relieved he was to hear her voice, though it had just been a couple days since they'd said goodbye at the farm. "Congratulations."

"It's not a big deal. I've caught lots of them now. Cooper caught a really big fish though-it was huge."

"You'll have to send me a picture."

"I suppose so." He gradually ran out of things to say; for a minute or two they said nothing, listening to the crickets chirping in the dim night. "I miss you."

"I miss you too. But I know you're having fun. And we have a surprise waiting for you back home."

"What kind of surprise?"

"I can't tell you. That would spoil it."

"I want to know."

"No. You'll just have to wait until you get back to the farm. Did you have a good time camping?"

"Of course."

"Did you see any bears?" The twins had both been under the impression that no self-respecting camping trip was complete without a couple of bear attacks.

"No. Cooper thought he did, but it was actually a moose."

"That's still very exciting."

"Not really. He screamed very loudly and woke me up at two in the morning."

"Were you able to get back to sleep?"

"Barely."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I can tell you for a fact that moose don't live near the farm."

He laughed, glancing back toward the campsite to see Clint and Cooper motioning him over for s'mores. "Good. It looks like I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes. See you then."

"Sleep well."

"You too."

He hung up with a soft click and headed back toward the campsite. He enjoyed camping-actually, he felt kind of cheated that he hadn't actually gotten to see a bear-but there was no place like home.

Or home away from home, in his case.

~IT~

"Are we almost there?" Cooper asked, straining to see out the car window.

"Almost. Keep your seatbelt fastened back there!" Clint said as Cooper tried to climb into the trunk of the car so he could see better. "It's just over this hill."

They rounded the crest of said hill and the farm came into view. Laura, Lila, Wanda, and Nathaniel were all in the front yard, waving happily. Pietro tried to take everything in at glance the way Steve was trying to teach him to. Everyone looked happy-a good sign. There were more flowers planted in the flower beds.

And then he saw the tree house.

Except it didn't look like a tree house anymore. It was painted black and covered in little red symbols. As Pietro looked, he realized that they were little As.

A for Avengers.

Lila and Wanda had a lot of explaining to do.

He helped Clint bring everything in-they had a lot of leftover fish-thinking that camping trips were fun, but it was very, very good to be home.

 **Sorry this ended a little abruptly, but I have to be somewhere in half an hour and I already spent three hours writing this. It's impossible to do anything if you have one or two kittens either sleeping on your lap, playing with your hands, or trying to walk across your keyboard. That's my excuse.**

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	21. Late Nights

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I was vacationing in a place with no Internet. So yeah…sorry about that. I hope this chapter makes up for it.**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

Pietro was quickly beginning to learn that August was generally a hot and sticky month. Almost every day was hot; the twins spent almost every day at the swimming pool just lounging around watching Lila and Cooper play in the water. Every so often the kids would manage to get the Sokovians into the pool for a splash war (Pietro was the undisputed champion) despite whatever their intentions may have been.

"We shouldn't get used to this." Wanda said one night after a day in the pool. They'd both taken showers and were now watching a movie with Clint, Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel while Laura made a dinner. Out of habit, they'd selected a couch at the back of the room where they could talk without being overheard. "Things like this never last."

Pietro knew what she meant. When he was young, he'd always assumed that he would have a home and a family. He'd never imagined that in just a few short years he'd be fighting for his life on the streets. Everyone he knew, everything he loved could be taken away in the blink of an eye. Nothing was certain. He'd learned that the hard way. "Maybe we can pretend."

"What are you two doing all the way back there?" Clint asked. Pietro had noticed that he often tried to call them back when they went off on their own, as if he didn't trust the direction their thoughts would take them in-which was probably wise, considering the circumstances. "Come and watch the show from up here. You'll be able to see the screen better."

Reluctantly, the twins moved closer to the screen and Pietro tried to concentrate on watching the movie. It seemed like summer was draining away faster than sand in an hourglass-soon enough, it would be September and he'd be going back to the Tower for preliminary training exercises. But that would change soon enough; sooner or later they'd be moving to a base somewhere in upstate New York-apparently, its exact location was classified. In a way, it would be almost like living at the farm-if the farm was as stocked and well maintained as your average military bunker. He couldn't say he wasn't excited-this was what he'd signed up for, after all-but he would miss the laid back and easygoing atmosphere of the farm.

Then again, he would also get his official costume.

The movie was very long and soon Cooper and Lila started to get antsy. As soon as the credits started to roll Cooper couldn't take it anymore and jumped to his feet. "Can we play outside, Pietro? I want to race."

Pietro laughed as he grabbed his running shoes. "Only if you're ready to lose."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Clint replied. "He's been practicing."

"So have I."

They went out into the backyard, brittle dry grass cracking beneath their feet with every step. Cooper glanced up at the cloudless blue sky and sighed. "When's it going to rain?"

"It says we might get some thunderstorms this week."

"Cool. I like storms as long as they don't come at night." He scratched a line in the dirt with the toe of his shoe. "This is the starting line. We'll race around the barn and then come back."

"As you wish."

"On your marks….get set….go!" Cooper took off like a shot, feet pounding across the dirt with a raw ferocity. Pietro gave him a few seconds to get a head start. The kid was really trying, he had to give him that.

But he just wasn't fast enough.

He shifted from foot to foot to gather momentum before he started to run himself. He easily passed Cooper, looping around the barn and coming back to the finish line without so much as breaking a sweat. Cooper ran to join him, breathing heavily. "Was I better that time?"

"Yes. You were very good."

"Do you think I'll be able to beat you soon?"

Pietro pretended to think about it. _Sure kid, whenever you decide to volunteer for illegal human experimentation._ "I think you might need a little more practice-but not much."

Cooper practically skipped inside for dinner with a smile on his face that Pietro couldn't help being just the tiniest bit proud of.

~IT~

"What do you think he's thinking about?"

Wanda glanced down at Nathaniel, who was playing with a few strands of her dark hair with a happy smile on his face. "I don't know. What do babies think about besides the necessities?"

"Maybe he wants to be a superhero like his dad." Cooper suggested, trying to tempt the baby with a rattle. Nathaniel laughed happily but didn't rise to the bait.

"I don't think he even knows what a superhero is."

"He'll learn soon enough."

That brought up something Wanda had been wondering about for a while. "Cooper, when did you first learn your father was a SHIELD agent?"

He looked thoughtful. "I don't know. At first I thought he was just really busy. Most of my friends had parents like that-they worked all the time because of their jobs. But their dads didn't send them packages and postcards from London one week and Bucharest five days later. Their dads didn't get visited all the time by people in black suits who talked in low voices when they thought we weren't listening. They didn't have a helicopter landing pad in their backyard.

"For a long time, I didn't even know what SHIELD was. Maybe I'd heard of it once or twice, in passing…but I didn't know what it did. Then the Battle of New York happened. I heard about it of course-everyone at school did. For a long time it was all anyone talked about. Everyone had Captain America and Iron Man lunchboxes and plastic hammers designed to look like Thor's. Apparently there had been a new team of superheroes established-the Avengers. And my dad was one of them-my dad who played Legos with me, took me fishing, and read stories to me before I went to sleep. Mom said I couldn't tell anyone else about it. It was easy to keep it a secret-almost all of my friends had never met Dad and it was easy to just pass it off as a coincidence whenever anyone asked about the last name. And I think that made things easier in a way-even though Dad couldn't always come to Open House at school or any of my baseball games, I just remembered that he was a hero-and he would always be one for as long as the world needed him."

"Do you ever worry about him while he's on missions?"

"Not really. He can take care of himself. Mom does though. She makes him call her every night if possible and whenever the Avengers are on the news she watches the segments really carefully." He looked down at the puzzle he was working on, trying to mash together two pieces that obviously weren't meant to fit. "I know what happened in Sokovia."

She felt cold water run down her spine. "What do you mean?"

"I know Pietro…died saving my dad's life. I mean, I guess he didn't really die because he came back…but still. That was really, really nice of him. And you too. Dad told me you had to live without him for twelve days when you thought he was dead. That sounds terrible."

"It was, but…Pietro made the right choice. If I would have been in his position I would have done the same thing. Your father is a very good man-and he has a family he has to get back to."

Just then, Nathaniel started coughing loudly-and he didn't stop for a good twenty seconds. Wanda felt his forehead with concern. Did he seem warmer than normal or was it just her imagination? "Cooper, does Nathaniel feel…warm to you?"

Cooper nodded. "Do you think he's sick?" He looked worried and she instantly felt bad for getting him worked up over what was probably nothing.

"I'm sure he's fine-but he should probably rest just in case." She took him up to the bedroom with Cooper following close on her heels and asking her all sorts of questions she couldn't answer.

~IT~

Nathaniel didn't get any better as the day went on. He barely ate anything at dinner and he spent the rest of the day sleeping even more than he normally did. By the time Cooper and Lila went to bed he definitely felt hot.

"I think he's coming down with something." Laura said as he checked on him. "He's so little..."

"Is he going to be okay?" Cooper asked.

"Of course. He'll be fine. He just might be a little sick."

Pietro was still worrying when it came time for his nightly driving lesson. Clint insisted that the twins have American drivers licenses before the summer was through and he alternated nights with each of them. At least driving was one thing that came easily to Pietro-he had a license of course, though he hadn't had much chance to use it in Sokovia-but he did have the tendency to drive fast.

"Slow down." Clint said. "We're taking a pleasure drive. We're not in NASCAR."

"Sorry."

"Is something stressing you out?"

"Maybe."

"Girl troubles?"

Pietro almost had to slam on the brakes because he was so taken aback. "What does that even mean?"

"I don't know. I have no way of knowing if you sneak out to the town at night and have a secret girlfriend you're meeting you just haven't told us about for whatever reason."

"I would never do something like that. Believe me."

"Fine. So, what's the big deal?"

"Nathaniel's sick."

"He's not _that_ sick. I know what you mean, but he could get better. Maybe the virus will miss him."

Pietro couldn't help but think that hope was very far fetched.

~IT~

The next morning Nathaniel was even sicker. His temperature seemed to be rapidly climbing the thermometer and there was nothing anyone could do-no matter what medications they gave him. Clint and Laura didn't act worried around Cooper and Lila, but Pietro knew they were concerned. And the fever didn't go away-it persisted for a long time, longer than was normal.

Finally, when Nathaniel's temperature climbed dangerously high, Clint and Laura made the decision to drive to the hospital-'just in case'. Of course, that set both Cooper and Lila off-because the words 'emergency room' generally never boded well.

"Is Nathaniel going to die?" Lila asked, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"Of course not, sweetheart." Laura replied. "The doctors are going to prescribe some medicine so Nathaniel will get better faster. That's all."

"But why do we have to go to the emergency room?"

"Because Nathaniel has been sick for a few days and we want him to feel better as soon as possible."

Lila still didn't look convinced.

"I'll pack a few essentials." Wanda said, grabbing Nathaniel's diaper bag off the back counter. She knew from experience that waiting in the emergency room could sometimes take a while, depending on the day. She eventually decided to bring extra diapers and formula for Nathaniel, along with a blanket, thermometer, and washcloths in case he threw up in the backseat. She packed extra books for Cooper and Lila along with the family iPad they shared in case it really became necessary. As an afterthought, she also added a couple books for herself and Pietro on top.

All this was accomplished in about five minutes. After years of having to leave on the fly, she knew to pack quickly, think clearly, and take what was really important.

"The rest of you don't have to come." Laura replied, glancing at the clock above the oven. It was 10:14 at night; Cooper and Lila should have been asleep. Of course, the atmosphere was such that no one felt even remotely tired.

"I don't think you'll be able to keep us back." Pietro replied.

Laura looked torn as she looked from the idling car to Cooper and Lila and back again. "Fine. But we should go soon."

"Already packed." Wanda replied. "Let's go."

~IT~

It took about forty five minutes to reach the nearest hospital. Luckily, there was no traffic this late at night and Nathaniel slept restlessly for the entire drive.

The emergency room was still as busy as ever. While Clint and Laura went to check in, the others found seats in one corner of the room away from most of the other families.

"Is Nathaniel going to be okay?" Lila asked.

"He'll be fine." Pietro said calmly. "Remember we went to the hospital before? It's not a bad place. Everything is going to be fine."

"What if he's really sick?" Cooper said. "What if he has to go through surgery?"

Lila looked close to terrified now.

"He's going to be fine." Pietro said. "Really. I promise." He reached into the bag and dug out a book. "Here. Do you want to read a book?" The book he had randomly chosen happened to be The Secret Language of Cats. Never mind that Lila didn't have a cat.

"Can you read it to me?" she asked.

Pietro briefly wondered what it would do to his reputation if he refused. But he wouldn't do that to her. Right now, Lila was probably terrified out of her mind. He had to at least try and make her feel better. "Sure." He waited for her to get settled on his lap before he started to read in as calm a voice as he could manage.

He could see Clint and Laura talking to Wanda for a while before they took Nathaniel into a back room followed by a nurse in blue scrubs. Once the book was finished and Lila seemed relatively sated, he went to convene with his sister. "What happened?"

"Clint pulled his I'm-an-Avenger-and-I-saved-the-world-twice card and they managed to get in right away. The doctor says they might have to try a couple of things before they know what to prescribe Nathaniel so we might be here for a while."

"That's fine. We can handle it."

And so they settled in to wait however long it might take.

Wanda had been worried she'd over packed-but as it turned out she had nothing to worry about. Both Cooper and Lila had very short attention spans but she'd luckily brought just enough to keep them entertained. Occasionally they went for walks outside under the starry, starry sky or bought snacks (and coffee, in the twins' case) from the vending machines, but they never strayed too far from their base.

Eventually Cooper and Lila began to get tired despite their best intentions. This was far later than they'd ever stayed up-the last time Wanda checked her phone it had been close to one in the morning.

"I'm tired." Lila said after a while, curling up in her chair. It was covered in a stiff fabric that couldn't possibly be comfortable for sleeping in but after a while Wanda supposed it wouldn't matter anymore if you were that exhausted.

"Get some sleep."

"But what if something happened?"

"I'll wake you up. Don't worry. In a couple days, Nathaniel will be back to normal."

Lila yawned and closed her eyes. Wanda rummaged through the bag and tried to find something that would make the chair more comfortable. She wished she'd brought a pillow-she knew she'd forgotten something. At best she had to settle for the blanket which she handed to Lila as some protection against the hospital's blaring air conditioning.

"Thank you." Lila said.

"Anytime."

"Why do you and Pietro never freak out about anything? You're always so calm and collected, no matter what."

"We've both faced our worst fears. When you've done that, nothing scares you anymore. Besides, we always try to be brave for you and Cooper. That way it's easy for us be brave even when inside we're nervous."

Lila fell asleep soon after and Cooper wasn't far behind. Pietro was listening to music on his new iPad as he read a book, like he was just trying to block everything out.

"Are you all right?" she asked, tracing a finger down the side of his arm.

He nodded. "I just want to leave as soon as we can."

"I know what you mean." Hospitals held too many memories for both of them. "But Nathaniel will be fine."

"Yes. He's so lucky. More lucky than he'll probably ever know-to have such a loving family and a beautiful home…Wanda, do you ever think that maybe we brought it all on ourselves? Do you think the universe, even before we were born, knew that we would do bad things? Is it our fault? Our parents, Sokovia, HYDRA…could we have prevented it somehow?"

"Bad things happen to good people." But Wanda knew what he meant. Even after all of that, she still sometimes had a hard time thinking of herself as a good person.

Good people didn't almost cause the apocalypse.

Just then, Clint and Laura came back out with Nathaniel. The baby was sleeping peacefully for once. "He'll be fine." Laura explained. "The doctors gave us some medication that is supposed to work wonders."

"Looks like you guys managed to hold your own." Clint observed.

The twins exchanged a glance. _We always do._

~IT~

Within four days Nathaniel was back to his usual happy, bubbly, and healthy self. It finally rained and Cooper and Lila spent five hours playing in the little droplets falling from the sky. It seemed like the whole hospital ordeal had never happened.

"Thanks for watching the kids that night." Laura said as she finished salting the green beans for dinner a couple nights later.

"It was our pleasure." Wanda said, meticulously setting the table.

"You know, sometimes I wonder how…even after everything that happened to you and Pietro you can still being so kind and caring. I know the two of you don't think like that-but I know for a fact that you don't give yourself enough credit where it's worth. What happened in Sokovia wasn't your fault. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course."  
"Sometimes I'm not so sure. You know, only a good person would make sure that Cooper and Lila weren't worrying that much back in the hospital waiting room. You and Pietro both have goodness in you-and a lot of it."

Wanda ducked her head so Laura wouldn't see her smile. Yes, they'd made mistakes…

…but maybe, just maybe, they could get a second chance.

All she could do was try.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	22. Rainy Days

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Marvel.**

 **Enjoy!**

Pietro was quickly beginning to realize that it didn't just rain in the US.

It poured.

Today was just one of those days-when he'd woken up the sky was filled with dark clouds and it didn't look like the rain was going to let up anytime soon. That meant he couldn't go outside-which meant he had to get creative in some way, shape, or form.

"So, what are we going to do today?" he asked when the breakfast dishes had been washed and put away and he was sitting on the living room carpet in a circle with Wanda, Cooper, and Lila. Summer was winding to a close and Cooper and Lila were determined to make the last couple of weeks count. Of course they wouldn't be able to do everything the kids wanted to do-Cooper really wanted to build a rocket ship and Lila wanted to marathon every movie or television series she owned that contained either a unicorn, a pegasus, or both-but they still had plenty to do.

"I want to build a bird house. We never got around to it in June, remember?" Cooper said.

"I want to have a tea party." Lila said in a way that suggested she wouldn't be swayed.

"We could do both." Pietro suggested. Never mind that would be a lot to get accomplished. They could make it work. Probably.

"I'll help with the birdhouse." Wanda said quickly. That left Pietro with the tea party-and in his defense he tried very, very hard to look like he was excited.

"Come on!" Lila said, practically tugging him up the staircase. "My tea set is upstairs!"

Every time Pietro entered Lila's room, he was struck anew by how…pink it all looked. He'd never known someone's room could be so solidly one color-all four walls and the ceiling were painted pink, her sheets were covered in pink unicorns, and even her tea set was colored a lighter shade. Everything else was white-like her closet door, clothes hamper, and bedstead. The table was far too small for him but he tried to make do the best he could.

"Some of my friends managed to come on such short notice!" Lila said happily, gathering three armfuls of stuffed animals. "Princess Rainbow Unicorn gets the seat of honor because she's a princess." The unicorn was placed at the head of the table, next to the spot where Lila herself would sit. Pietro was then introduced to Blair the Pegasus, Lizzy the snake, Melba Anne the rabbit, and Lila Jr. the porcelain doll.

"Would you like some tea?" Lila asked, pulling on a plastic tiara and taking her seat. "Mommy made it this morning."

"Don't mind if I do." It had been a long time since Pietro had had a decent cup of tea. There'd really been no time, after the battle-none of the other Avengers had a particular preference for tea and he'd slowly grown used to coffee.

"Here you go." She poured him a cup without even a wobble in her wrists before pouring cups for her other stuffed animals and setting the teapot back in the center of the table. "Sugar?"

"Three lumps please." She nodded, giving three to him and taking three for herself as well-though only two made it into her tea.

Next she brought in a plate of scones that were still warm from the oven. "Scone?"

"Don't mind if I do." He was tempted to take two but he was sure that would violate some rule of proper etiquette that only Lila knew about.

Finally all the animals had scones and cups of tea. For a while they ate in silence; Pietro was waiting to take his cue from Lila but Lila seemed to be busy taking the tiniest sips of tea she possibly could. "My birthday is tomorrow." she stated once her cup was mostly drained.

"I know." Everyone in the house knew that. All of the Avengers knew that. Everyone in the western hemisphere knew that.

"Did you get me a present? Because it's okay if you didn't."

Pietro laughed. He and Wanda had spent hours on Amazon looking for the perfect present for their own little princess. "Don't worry. As a matter of fact, I did buy a present for you. I think you'll really enjoy it."

"What is it?"

"It's a surprise."

"Tell me! Pleeeease?"

"You just have to wait a few more hours."

Lila sighed and flopped back in her chair, defeated. "I've had to wait a few more hours for an entire year!"

"That means you're almost there. So, let me get this straight: you're going to be sixteen, correct?"

"No, silly!" she laughed. "I'm going to be six!"

"Six. Right, I forgot. Still, that's a very important birthday too. You must be so excited."

Lila nodded happily. "What did you do on your sixth birthday?"

As a matter of fact, Pietro could remember that birthday quite clearly. It had been the last birthday before all the food shortages and rationing had really kicked in. "My parents took Wanda and I to a fancy bakery and they bought two cakes-one for each of us."

"Did you eat both of them?"

"No. Wanda barely managed to eat a piece and I barely managed two. We had leftovers for a long, long time."

Lila sighed. "You're lucky you have someone to share a birthday with."

Pietro had never really thought about it. For as long as he could remember, Wanda had just been a part of his life. It had never really mattered that they'd shared a birthday, although there were times when he wished that just once his parents would celebrate his birthday for once. "Yes. I suppose I am."

"I wish I had a twin."

"It's not as fun as you might imagine. There are times when I swear I can hear Wanda talking to me in my head, even when we're far away." Then again, that might have something to do with the scepter. "It's enough to make me feel like I'm going crazy sometimes."

"Why don't you ever get mad at her? Cooper and I get in fights all the time but you and Wanda never do."

"I wouldn't say that." Having grown up with him, Wanda knew just how to push his buttons-and he could rile her up more than almost anyone else. What set them apart from Cooper and Lila was the fact that they didn't try to pick fights with each other; years on the streets had made them fully dependent on each other. In a world where the weak died and the strong survived, they'd learned that sticking together had given them an advantage. Now they tried not to get into fights for different reasons-namely all the property damage their powers could cause if they weren't careful. "We just don't want to break anything accidentally."

"Do you ever wish you were an only child?"

"Sometimes. But very rarely." More often, he contemplated the question of how he could survive without his sister. "What about you?"

She looked thoughtful. "Sometimes I get mad at Cooper when he makes fun of my toys-but I like Nathaniel. He's cute."

"What about when he gets older?"

She shrugged matter-of-factly. "I'm not sure yet. I don't know if he'll be annoying like Cooper is. Are you going back to Avengers Tower when school starts?"

"I'm afraid so." All the details had been worked out with Steve Rogers; there would be no more extensions. In a way, Pietro was glad-once school started, the Bartons would be extremely busy. The last thing he wanted was to be in the way of things. But he would miss the farm-a lot. "Are you excited for school to start?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I like summer. I just want to stay here and have tea parties forever. I'm going to start first grade this year. Cooper says first grade is really hard. She says you get…" She shuddered, as if the idea was just too terrible to comprehend. "Homework."

"I see." Pietro could remember being assigned homework if he remembered back far enough…some math problems, maybe a spelling worksheet or two…of course, he hadn't really gone to school since he was twelve years old. That was the year he and Wanda had dropped out of the foster care system for good and started making a life for themselves on the streets. "Well, homework isn't so bad."

"Yes it is! Schoolwork is for school. It's not supposed to follow you home!"

"But homework makes you smarter. You want to be smart, don't you?"

"...Yes, but that's different."

"How so?"

"I can be smart without doing homework."

"You know, when your parents were in school they had to do homework. I had to do homework too. It's just a part of growing up."

"I still wish I didn't have to go to school."

Pietro sighed. "I wish I could have gone to school."

Lila looked up at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Have your parents told you that I never went to high school?"

"You didn't? Why not?"

 _How to word this…_ "I wasn't able to. For a while I lived on the streets, Lila. I didn't have a home or any other family besides Wanda-we were too busy trying to survive rather than go to school. Of course, we taught ourselves things off the internet-it's not like we're uneducated or anything like that-but I miss going to public school where you can see all your friends and talk to a teacher if there's something you don't understand. Maybe you don't understand yet and that's okay. But just remember that you're very lucky, Lila. More lucky than you realize right now."

Lila nodded. "School isn't that bad, but I wish it could be summer all the time."

"So does everyone. But if it was summer every day, it wouldn't feel fun anymore. Eventually you'd get tired of it. And besides, the sooner the school year starts the sooner it finishes and it can be summer again."

He managed to coax a smile out of her. "Good point. Are you going to go to school this year?"

"No-but I'm going to go somewhere even harder: Avengers training."

"That sounds fun."

"Not when Natasha Romanoff is running the classes. Then it's simply brutal."

Lila laughed. "Good luck."

"Thank you. I'll need it. And you know, I'm sure first grade has at least a few redeeming qualities Cooper hasn't told you about."

"Like what?"

"You're starting grade school. You'll be able to look at the kindergarteners and say 'I remember when I used to be that young'. But now you're older. And you're smarter than all of them too."

Lila grinned. "I guess so. Thanks, Pietro." She ran around the table and hugged him tightly.

"Anytime. And happy early birthday, Princess Lila."

~IT~

"Have you ever built a birdhouse before?"

"No. Have you?"

"No-but I got instructions off the Internet. So we should be fine." Cooper said confidently as he pulled out a few precut pieces of wood, measuring tape, a saw, and a power drill. "You'll have to do all the drilling. Dad says I'm not allowed to operate heavy machinery."

"That's probably a good idea." Wanda surveyed the plans carefully. They didn't look too hard-then again, she'd never tried to build anything before. She hoped Cooper knew what he was doing.

Otherwise they could both be in trouble.

Cooper arranged the wooden pieces neatly in order of size. "We need four walls, a roof, and a floor." He found the corresponding pieces and arranged them on the base neatly. "Like this, right?"

"That looks right."

"Good. Then we just have to drill everything in." He handed her the drill and a box of fasteners.

"Sounds simple enough." She took longer than was probably necessary to put in all the nails; she'd never gotten injured because of a drill and she didn't want to start now.

"Are you excited to be an Avenger?" Cooper asked, shifting from foot to foot impatiently. They were out on the screened in porch; despite the drizzling rain still pounding on the roof, it was still a very muggy day outside.

"I suppose so." She hadn't really had time to think about it, to be honest.

"I want to be one when I grow up." He sighed. "I wish I could be on the team now-but Dad says I'm a little young."

"Enjoy the age you are right now. Don't worry about growing up." The twins had been forced to grow up too fast; it was either that or starve to death. Most of the time Wanda didn't think about what they'd had to give up-school, dances, parties, dates, even their first car. She wouldn't wish her past on anyone else, though-friend or foe.

Cooper sighed and kicked a wooden post in frustration. "But growing up takes so long."

"Yes, but once you're an adult you can never be a kid again."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not all the time. You know, sometimes I wish I could be a kid again."

"You're just saying that to try and make me feel better."

"No. It's true, actually. It's a lot easier than being an adult."

"But you're a superhero. You can do _magic._ Everyone likes you."

 _Do you know what they put me through to get that magic?_ It could probably qualify as torture, now that she thought about it. "That's not true. There are a lot of people who hate me." For many different reasons, too-because she was an outsider, because her powers were unnatural, and because she'd worked for HYDRA even for a short time. She knew there were some SHIELD agents who believed the whole Ultron fiasco was her fault-and maybe it was. She certainly wasn't counting that possibility out. "It's not as easy as you think it is."

"Why don't people like you? You saved the world, right?"

"Yes, but…" He was almost nine years old; she didn't know how much Clint had told him about his line of work or what had really happened in Sokovia. "I wasn't always a superhero. At one point Pietro and I were working against your father and the other Avengers-and working with Ultron."

Cooper was suitably shocked. "Why?"

"Because when we were very young, our apartment building was hit with a shell and it exploded. Our parents were killed…and I don't think we ever quite got over that loss. Especially because that missile was designed by Tony Stark."

Cooper nodded solemnly. He was very, very still now. "Did Tony know…?"

"I don't think so. But it doesn't matter. If he hadn't created those bombs and sold them to arms dealers…Pietro and I might still have a family."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. But when the time came to work with the Avengers…we couldn't. It would be like working with our parents' killers."

"But you changed sides in the end, right?"

"Yes. And I'm so happy that we did. Still, some people rightfully have bad feelings toward us. It's going to take a long time for Pietro and I to atone for our mistakes."

Cooper nodded. "It's sad that you lost your parents…but if you hadn't then maybe we wouldn't have met. Then I wouldn't feel like I have two older siblings in addition to Lila and Nathaniel."

"I suppose that's one way to think about things." She finished putting in the last nail and examined the final product closely. It was a little lopsided, but that couldn't be helped. "What does it say to do next?"

"We need to drill a hole so the bird can fly in." Cooper showed her the dimensions and she tried her best to cut the hole neatly. It looked more like an ellipse than a circle, but it could have been much, much worse.

"How does that look?"

He surveyed it critically and then nodded once. "I'll get the paint."

While she waited she thought about what Cooper had said. He had a point; if that bomb had just hit another apartment building her life could be very different. It might even be better than it was now.

But things weren't so bad now. She knew firsthand that they could be much, much worse.

Finally Cooper returned with two huge cans of red and blue paint. "They're Mom's," he said by way of explanation, "but she doesn't really mind if I use them."

They went to work with paintbrushes and extra sheets of paper to try out new designs. They worked meticulously, critiquing everything and occasionally starting over completely when they weren't satisfied. But finally they were both satisfied with the final result.

"I think it looks good." Cooper said as he hung the house on a branch outside the living room window. "What do you think?"

"I like it-and I think the birds will too." They stood outside under the porch overhang for a minute or two, watching the rain come down in sheets. The entire world seemed misty and blurred around the edges, like someone had decided to do a watercolor painting but accidentally diluted the colors with too much water. In spite of all that, there was an ethereal beauty to it all as well.

"Thanks, Wanda. I've been wanting to build that for a long time but I needed someone to help…Mom's busy with baby Nate and Dad's busy with work…"

"Anytime. And thank you for not judging me automatically, like most people would."

"Don't worry about it. Dad always tells us that everyone deserves a second chance, no matter what. Hey, do you want to play Legos for a while? I have a lot of stuff I still have to build." Building with Legos was one of Cooper's favorite hobbies.

"Sure. I'd love to." With that they went inside, closing the door against the hot summer afternoon. The birdhouse still swung sturdily on its branch, periodically being caught in a gust of wind.

Who said rainy days had to be boring?

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	23. Kittens

**Hi everybody! I have a couple announcements I have to get out of the way before I start the next chapter:**

 **First of all, I forgot to mention the prompt from last chapter came from MrsStylikhoranson19. Sorry about that. Also, this is the last chapter I will be accepting prompts or requests as I want this story to end at around thirty chapters and I'm already really behind. A couple prompts that I've gotten from much earlier chapters and haven't got around to writing yet haven't been written because I just don't think they'll fit into the time frame of the story and where I want it to go at the moment. That being said, I'm going to put in all the prompts I can!**

 **Next order of business: now that you know when the story is going to end I have to decide what (if anything) I'm going to write when this is finished. I'm debating between a couple projects (I'm starting at a new school this year and I don't want to overwhelm myself with new stories right away) and I'll update you on any new stories once I decide on them. Feel free to leave suggestions.**

 **Finally, thanks to everyone who's been reading this fanfiction. I love hearing all of your feedback and getting follows and favorites :)**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

Lila's birthday was a smashing success to all involved parties. It ended up being a beautiful day outside and they were able to go to the state park two hours north for a day hiking and swimming in the lake. Lila also got plenty of merchandise from her favorite TV shows and enough stuffed animals to keep her satisfied for a solid two weeks.

The next day was reserved strictly for back to school shopping. Cooper and Lila hated the entire idea of going back to school and were borderline uncooperative the entire way to the mall. Pietro and Wanda bought some basic notebooks, pens, and pencils as well-they'd be going to the public high school for a day just to see what it was like, though they'd probably end up going to an online high school once they got back to New York. Pietro would have been fine never going to school again but everyone else insisted that the twins graduate high school so they would always have a fallback plan if, for whatever reason, Avenging didn't work out.

"Which do you like better?" he asked Cooper, holding out two notebooks. One was red with a blue racecar on it while the other was blue and had a white baseball on it.

Cooper pointed to the baseball. "That one." He grabbed a couple other notebooks at random, seemingly eager to get out of the store.

Pietro scanned the list of school supplies rapidly. "Okay…we still need pencils and pens."

Obediently, but without any real enthusiasm, Cooper set them in the back of the car. "Fine. Can we go now?"

"I don't think Lila is ready yet." She was carefully deciding between about seven different notebooks that all had unicorns on them in some capacity. "She really likes unicorns, doesn't she?"

Cooper rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. It's always been like that. One of our cousins gave her Princess Rainbow Unicorn just after she was born and she's loved them ever since."

"Don't worry. She'll grow out of it."

"I hope so. In the meantime, I hope Princess Rainbow Unicorn falls apart in the rinse cycle."

Just then Laura came over to see what they had decided to get. "You're all set." she said to Cooper.

"Can I go look at the video games?"

She rolled her eyes. "We're not buying any new ones."

"I know. I just want to look."

"And that's it. No begging. Understand?"

"Yes. I understand." Cooper scampered off to the electronics aisle, which boasted some of the biggest TVs Pietro had ever seen.

"What about you?" Laura asked. "Did you pick up a few notebooks yet?"

"No." Pietro replied. "It's just for a day. Do we really need them?"

"Yes. You'd be surprised how busy you are. Besides, you'll need them at whatever high school you end up going to."

He sighed. "I just wished we didn't have to go."

"Why not? It's not that bad, you know."

"It just seems silly now that we have jobs that require all of our time and energy for the foreseeable future."

"You never know what'll happen beyond that. It's just a good idea that will open doors for you if you ever need them." She sighed. "Just humor me. Maybe seeing you two go back to school shopping will convince the kids that it's not so bad."

Reluctantly, he nodded and went to go look for something blue. Couldn't go wrong with that.

~IT~

Wanda had just finished setting the table when Lila heard the scratching in the walls.

"Mommy, are there rats in our attic?" the little girl asked, playing with her dolls on the kitchen floor as she waited for dinner to be ready.

"Of course not, sweetheart." Laura said absentmindedly, neatly stepping over her to put a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table. "Why do you ask that?"

"I heard something in the walls." Lila pointed to the nearest wall. Wanda listened carefully; she couldn't hear anything.

Laura examined the wall critically. "I don't hear anything. You probably heard a tree branch scratch against a window or something." They listened for a minute; when they heard nothing unusual or otherwise they went back to their individual tasks.

After a few minutes, Lila sat upright on the heels of her feet. "There! Did you hear it that time?"

After a while, Wanda became aware of a faint noise in the walls…a scratching. "I think I did."

Laura sighed and went back over to the wall. " _I_ think you're both hearing things."

Just then, whatever was inside the walls started to meow.

"Is that a kitty?" Lila asked excitedly.

"I don't know…" Laura crossed back to the family room, where the boys were watching fishing shows on the Discovery channel. "Clint, I think there might be a cat in the walls."

"What do you mean?" he asked, not looking up from his laptop.

"We heard meowing in the walls."

That was enough to get him to look up from whatever top-secret-possibly-world-threatening mission that was currently occupying his full attention. " _What?_ "

She rolled her eyes. "Just come and see."

The meowing had gotten louder and more pronounced. There were now two distinct voices, both mewing loudly. Clint shook his head. "How did they even get back there?"

"I don't know. Shouldn't we try and get them out?"

"I guess I could make a hole in the wall-"

"Preferably without getting roofing dust everywhere."

"I'll do the best I can. "

Pietro and Cooper came in to see what all the fuss was about. "What's going on?" Cooper asked just as Clint started to drill a hole in the wall as carefully as he could to avoid hurting whatever might have found its way inside.

"There's a kitty in the wall!" Lila said. "Two of them!"

"How did they get in the wall?" Pietro asked in confusion.

"Isn't that the question of the day." Laura muttered as she picked up Nathaniel so he wouldn't be tempted to go climbing into the walls as well.

Finally Clint was finished, staring at the mess of drywall and plaster bits that let into the (mostly) wooden frame of the house. For a minute, nothing happened.

Then, one by one, two tiny heads looked at them over the side of the hole. Wanda realized that they gotten it all wrong-there weren't actually two cats in the wall.

There were two kittens.

"Aww!" Lila cried. "They're so cute!" She rushed to pick one up but Clint stopped her automatically.

"How do we know they don't have rabies or something?"

Although Lila did bring up a very valid point. One of the kittens was black and white while the other was simply white with the brownish markings around the eyes of a Siamese. And they were absolutely adorable. "Can we keep them?"

The black kitten nosed right up to Lila while the white cat hid under the kitchen table. Clint looked to Laura to take charge. "Let's take them to the vet and make sure they're healthy." she said quickly. No one was really sure how to respond to such a situation; it wasn't every day kittens fell through walls. "I think we have some old carriers somewhere."

"In the basement." Clint said. "Cooper, want to come help me?" Cooper nodded and they went downstairs.

Lila laughed as the black kitten twined around her legs. "Can I pet her?"

Laura examined the cat appraisingly. "It doesn't look like it has rabies…"

That was good enough for Lila. The kitten started purring like a motor as soon as the little girl started to pet her.

Meanwhile, the white kitten was still hiding under the table looking incredibly disgruntled. Wanda noticed her brother was trying to catch her eye, gesturing to the cat. _Help it._

She rolled her eyes and knelt next to the table, taking a quick peek into the cat's mind. There weren't any clear memories; just bits and flashes of color and noise. No wonder she was scared, with a mind that chaotic. "Come here, kitty." she said softly. Tentatively, the kitten took a step forward-and then another. Soon it was tentatively sitting in Wanda's lap, purring softly. She was so tiny; barely the size of Wanda's hand.  
"I'm going to name her Chocolate Chip!" Lila said, still petting the black cat. "Please can we keep them Mommy? Please?"

"I don't know right now." Laura replied. She looked like she was getting a migraine.

Just then Clint and Cooper came back with the carriers. The kittens went in right away, with no trouble. "The vet's office should still be open." Clint said as he started the car.

"Can we keep the kittens?" Cooper asked as everyone got in the car for the drive up.

"Please?" Lila chimed in.

"I thought we were getting a dog." Clint replied.

"No. I like Chocolate Chip!"

Wanda couldn't be sure, but she was almost certain she heard Clint mutter something that sounded suspiciously like "And now she's named it."

It wasn't far to the vet's office; Cooper and Lila were practically jumping up and down in their seats with excitement as they pulled in at the nearest vet clinic and the twins each took a carrier. The black kitten was jumping around like it was possessed-so of course that was the one Pietro ended up taking.

It didn't take long to get the kittens checked out. Apparently, they were two months old and both girls. Neither of them had rabies or any other especially contagious diseases.

And they would both have to be put up for adoption.

"How do two cats fall into a wall?" Clint asked.

"Does your house have an attic?" the vet asked calmly.

"Of course."

"A cat probably had some kittens in your attic and they fell through the walls while they were exploring. It happens sometimes."

Clint sighed. "Probably the neighbors' cats. Always causing trouble…"

"Can we keep them? Please?" Lila asked.

"We're not ready to take care of a cat right now…" Laura replied hesitantly. Wanda could see that even she had doubts though. It was hard to resist especially cute kittens. She was distracted by the white cat nudging at her hand, meowing softly until she pet it on the head hesitantly a couple of times.

"She likes you." Pietro said almost jealously.

"Hush. She's two months old. She loves anyone who will feed her." Wanda replied.

The vet was still filling out medical forms with the kittens' vitals. "Can we have some temporary names for them, just to put in the system?" she asked, tapping her pen against the side of the metal examination table.

"The black one is Chocolate Chip." Lila said confidently.

"And the white one is…Snowflake." Cooper said quickly.

"I wanted to name her Sparkles!"

"You got to name Chocolate Chip!"

The vet laughed as she finished her notes. "I'll give you guys a few minutes to talk things over and decide where you want the kittens to go." She left and closed the door behind her.

"They are kind of cute." Laura said as soon as the door closed.

"Let's keep them." Lila said. "You had kittens when you were little, right Mommy?"

"Yes-but I thought we were talking about getting a dog when you're both a little older."

"No. I like the kittens."

Laura and Clint exchanged a long look. "You'd need to take care of them." Clint said after a minute had passed.

"Of course." Cooper replied.

"You'd have to change the litter."

"We can do that."

"Without complaining."

He sighed loudly. "Fine."

Clint turned to the twins, who were both petting Snowflake absentmindedly. "What do the two of you think?"

"They're very small." Pietro said.

"Yes, but they're cute." Wanda added. "I like them."

"They could kill mice. I mean, I know you don't exactly have a mouse problem, but…"

Laura nodded. "We could drive out to town tomorrow and pick up some essentials- food, a litter box, and some toys."

Clint sighed. "I see I'm outnumbered."

"It would teach the kids some responsibility."

"Fine. They're kind of cute. What do you think, Nathaniel?"

Nathaniel laughed and squirmed in Laura's tight grip as if trying to pet Chocolate Chip.

"He likes them too." Laura said.

"Then I guess it's settled. We're getting a couple of cats."

Lila screamed so loudly both cats rushed to hide in the corner. "Best late birthday present ever!"

~IT~

It soon became apparent that Chocolate Chip was hyperactive.

Basically, she had a store of energy that would rival even Pietro on his best day.

"Wait up!" Lila called, rushing across the living room after Chocolate Chip. The cat ran under the couch and looked up at her through green eyes, head cocked curiously. "Why don't you want to wear a princess dress?"

"Can I play with her?" Cooper asked, pulling out one of the string toys they'd gotten at the store earlier that morning. He dangled the string in front of the couch; the cat tensed as if ready to pounce and then sprang for the string faster than either of them would have thought possible. Lila giggled as Cooper yanked the string away and Chocolate Chip spun around to look for it, preparing for another attack.

"She's crazy." Clint said, watching them play from his seat at the kitchen table.

"No she's not. She's just…energetic." Lila stumbled over the big word.

"More like possessed."

"Stop that." Laura replied. "The last thing we need is more nightmares."

Lila finally managed to pick the cat up and hold her close. "She's so cute. I love her so much."

Just then, the twins finally came downstairs. They'd been upstairs for a couple of hours; though what they'd been doing was anyone's guess. "Lila, if we challenged Chocolate Chip and Pietro to a race, who do you think will win?" Clint asked.

"Chocolate Chip." Lila replied.

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Thank you for that vote of confidence."

"Where's Snowflake?"

Pietro gestured to the small cat nestled in Wanda's arms. Ever since she'd arrived back at the house, Snowflake had basically attached herself to the Sokovian. She followed her everywhere-upstairs, downstairs…wherever Wanda happened to be, chances were good Snowflake was on her way there.

"I want to hold her." Lila said.

Pietro helped pass the cat over. Snowflake cuddled obligingly for a minute or so before racing back to Wanda, who smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

Meanwhile, Chocolate Chip jumped onto Clint's lap and made herself comfortable on his computer. Clint swore as he tried to get her off but she wouldn't be moved, stretching out across the keyboard and seeming to go to sleep. Clint groaned and eventually gave it up as a lost cause. "Demon cat." he muttered even as he scratched her behind the ears the way she liked it.

His computer screen was a mess of letters and numbers: What happened in Budapest was aqmakekdjfieljfl111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111111111122222222222222222288888888888888888888888888.

"Admit it, old man. You're starting to warm up to them." Pietro said.

"Not at all." The cat's purring could be heard from all the way across the room.

"Not even a little bit?"

"…Maybe just a little bit. But she's still possessed."

~IT~

The next morning Wanda woke up to find Snowflake sleeping on her chest.

She tried to get up without waking the cat, but of course that was impossible. Snowflake woke up sleepily, meowing adorably as she moved to nose Wanda's hand. As she went downstairs for breakfast she knew the cat would be following close on her heels-like always.

"We should have named her Shadow." Clint said. "I feel like she'd be really good at it."

"I think you may be right."

"I'm so glad we got to keep her." Lila said as Wanda made sure the cats' food bowls were full. "She's so cute! You're so lucky she likes you."

"She likes everyone."

"Yeah, but she really likes you. I wish the cats would sleep with me."

Pietro laughed as he took a seat at the table and took a few pancakes. "I don't think your bed has any room for cats."

"Some of Princess Rainbow Unicorn's ladies in waiting could probably sleep on the floor."

"I think Snowflake is happy where she is."

Clint shook his head. "I still can't believe we really got cats."

Lila grabbed Chocolate Chip and hugged her protectively. "We're keeping them forever and ever and ever."

"At least now you have a story to tell your friends when you go back to school."

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	24. Water Pranks

**Hi guys! Back with another chapter!**

 **Remember, requests are now closed.**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

The next day was hot-and brutally so. Cooper tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk just to see if he could. He didn't just fry it-the egg completely burned.

"What do you want to do?" Lila asked as Chocolate Chip chased a toy ball across the dining room with her tail high in the air. The cats were thriving in their new environment, even though Laura said they were not allowed outside under any circumstances for any reason. The kids played with them almost every waking moment; there was always a new toy to play with or a new game to make up. Unfortunately, it was getting toward that time of day where the cats inevitably got tired and preferred dozing in a patch of shade to playing with two hyperactive kids and one hyperactive toddler.

"I'm trying to read." Cooper said in annoyance as he lounged on the couch with his newest book. Even though the ceiling fan was chugging merrily overhead, it was still far too hot inside the house; Pietro could see the beads of sweat forming on the kid's forehead.

Lila sighed. "That's all you've been doing today. You're no fun. I want to go play with the hose."

"It's too hot to go outside."

Lila giggled in a way that was less than innocent. "What if I told you I knew where we could find some water guns?"

That got his attention. "But Mom doesn't let us get water guns."

"That doesn't mean Daddy doesn't have them."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…last December I was in Mommy and Daddy's closet looking for Christmas presents when I found a big box at the back of the closet that has all kinds of water guns. It doesn't have a lock on it or anything. It's practically _begging_ to be opened, Cooper."

"That's against the rules."

"Pleeeease Cooper? It's so hot out today! No one would know. I promise."

"I don't think this is a good idea."

Lila thought for a moment. "We'll just use them for a little bit and then put them back. Besides, maybe we can get Pietro to help us."

"Why would you think that?"

Lila grinned. "Because Vision took Wanda for another walk. We can ambush them."

"Wanda would kill us."

"No. She's too nice. Besides, we can always blame Pietro."

Cooper rolled his eyes. "Fine. But when we get in trouble for this, it wasn't my idea."

~IT~

It took approximately five minutes for Cooper and Lila to go through the chest of water guns and find the three they liked best. Lila hadn't been lying; there were a lot of them. Cooper didn't feel too bad about 'borrowing without permission'-Dad hadn't told them he had an entire contraband stash of illicit water guns inside his closet. Why did he get to have all the fun?

Then they went to find Pietro.

Of course, he looked skeptical while they explained their plan. He never deliberately wanted to cross his sister-especially since she had the power to make him see his worst fears-but the day was too hot to do much else.

Filling the water guns was a tricky business. They had to cart buckets of water to and from the kitchen without being noticed by Laura, who was all over the house cleaning anything and everything. They had a couple of close calls, but luckily Pietro managed to get rid of any incriminating evidence in time.

Finally, their three Super Soakers were loaded and ready to go-and they brought extra water just in case. "So, where are we going?" Pietro asked as they sat on the back porch letting their bodies adjust to the oppressive heat. "Did you see where they went?"

Lila pointed vaguely toward somewhere by the shed. "I think they went that way."

Cooper shook his head and pointed in the other direction. "I'm pretty sure they went the other way."

 _How can two people in the same room see two different things?_ "Are you sure?"

Lila finally amended her statement to say that Cooper was probably right. "Let's go."

Even the corn in the fields seemed to be melting due to the sheer force of the heat. Within seconds, Pietro's hair was plastered to his forehead and his shirt was sticking to his back. "It shouldn't be this hot this close to September." It had never gotten this hot in Sokovia, even in summer's peak.

"It should be illegal." Cooper added. "Do you think your sister is going to get mad at us for messing up her date?"

"This isn't a date." Pietro thought he ended up sounding just a touch more vehement than he'd actually meant to. "Vision was just in town for a couple of days and he decided to stop by."

"He stops by a lot." Lila commented. "He must really like your sister."

 _He better not._ "So, school starts in three days."

"You're trying to change the subject."

"No I'm not."

"I think they're a cute couple."

Pietro was trying not to throw up in the back of his mouth. He was the older of the two twins. He should be getting a love life first-not Wanda. But no. Of course, she had to fall in love with a three month old android. "She's too young."

Cooper and Lila exchanged a look but wisely didn't say anything.

Just then, they reached the relative shelter of the orchards. They slowed their pace to a crawl, trying to decide exactly where they should go. Lila was starting to complain about how heavy her water gun actually was. They walked for another twenty minutes until both Cooper and Lila wanted to abandon the mission and go back to the house for cookies.

Then they began to hear voices talking on the other side of the orchard.

Instantly Cooper and Lila went into stealth mode. They stopped complaining and instead started to creep through the trees in the direction of the voices.

"Are you sure we should dump water on Vision?" Cooper asked. "I mean, he is an android after all. Are they able to get wet?"

Pietro would have been happy to find out. "Better not risk it. Now, are we all clear? Empty your water guns. I'll be right behind you with the buckets."

"What do we do after that?" Lila asked curiously.

"Run back to the house as fast as you can and don't look back."

Cooper and Lila comprised the first wave. They jumped out of the trees yelling war cries they'd picked up from old movies and sprayed Wanda with their water guns until she was thoroughly soaked. Then, just like Pietro had told them to, they sprinted back into the undergrowth and started running back in the direction of the house. Wanda for her part was too shocked to retaliate-at least until Pietro dumped the excess buckets of water over her head and turned to run as well.

"What was that for?" Wanda yelled at his retreating back.

"What? You didn't see that coming?" He laughed as he poured on another burst of speed. She couldn't catch him, so he was in the clear.

At least until she came home.

Cooper and Lila were in stitches all the way back to the farm house. Whenever they got hot they took turns spraying themselves with Pietro's water gun-which meant the short trip was a lot more enjoyable. "She looked totally surprised!" Cooper laughed as they snuck back to the box in Clint's closet and gingerly put away the water guns as if they were weapons that could go off at any given moment.

"She won't get mad at us, will she?" Lila asked almost guiltily. Obviously she didn't feel all too comfortable with pranking the older sister she wished she had.

"Of course not. It's a very hot day. I'm sure she enjoyed the prank." In fact, Pietro wasn't sure Wanda had ever been pranked in her life. It just didn't seem like the kind of thing she would stand for. "Now come on. I hear Laura made cookies."

~IT~

Laura was instantly suspicious when she saw Cooper and Lila whispering to each other and glancing out the window every five minutes. "Are you expecting someone?"

They exchanged a glance. "No." Cooper said after a minute. "We're just waiting for Wanda to get back from her date with Vision."

"Why? It's not like this is her first time."

"Well…we accidentally might have dumped some water on her while she was out. But Pietro says she won't mind."

Laura sighed. "Why was that necessary?"

"I thought it would be fun." Pietro said defensively.

Laura rolled her eyes. "Pietro, when she tries to kill you don't expect me to take your side."

~IT~

"I can't believe him." Wanda muttered angrily, squeezing water out of her still-wet hair. "The nerve…"

"Maybe he did not see that you were otherwise engaged." Vision suggested. The two were seated on the bank of the small river that wound its way through the Barton's property, waiting for Wanda to dry off. She was beginning to think she never would.

"Believe me, he saw." When she got back to the house, she was going to kill him. No, that was too good a fate…she was going to tear him apart until he begged for mercy, at which point she would skin him alive. There. Much better. "I'm sorry. I look ridiculous."

"No, you actually look very nice."

She laughed. "You're very sweet, but you don't need to lie to make me feel better. I'm worked up enough as it is." Her fingers were sparking of their own accord; she had to keep them buried in the grass to prevent any unfortunate accidents.

"I would never lie to you."

She decided to leave it there. Vision was overly formal-maybe too much so. He always told her exactly what he thought, and she appreciated that-she could trust him not to keep secrets from her unless it was absolutely necessary. But she never knew quite where she stood with him. Did he really like her as anything more than a friend or was he just humoring her to be kind? She wasn't sure, and she wasn't certain she really wanted to know. Of course, she could always read his thoughts to find out for sure but she would never do that. Not to him or to anyone else.

Not anymore.

"How is the base coming along?" she asked instead. It was all anyone could talk about; a new Avengers facility was being built up north and it was supposed to be state of the art. It would have all new tech, dozens of dorms and offices, a bowling alley, and even a swimming pool. Whenever one of the new Avengers came to visit, they would always give the twins updates on how things were progressing; they hoped it would be completed by the end of summer-which by her count was only a few days away.

"Better than anyone would have guessed." Vision replied. "We just got the last few shipments of knives last night. All we have to do now is move in."

"What's it like?"

"You'll enjoy it. It's massive-there's plenty of room to train and it's far away from any cities or towns. We don't need to worry about anyone finding us-the odds of something like that occurring are extremely low."

"Have you designed your room yet?"

"Yes, to keep up appearances-though I doubt I will use it much if at all."

"Did you find any posters?"

"Yes. I did a random search of the most popular movies and TV shows and decided accordingly. We've been watching a few spy movies lately. I've found I have a particular preference to James Bond."

"I don't think I've ever seen those. Are they good?"

"Yes. They're quite enjoyable. Perhaps we could watch them sometime."

"I would like that. What else have you been watching?"

"Last night Colonel Rhodes insisted we have a _Star Wars_ marathon and last week Natasha showed us the _Lord of the Rings_ franchise. They were both very enjoyable as well. What about you? Not that I expect you have much time to watch television with the children around."

"Exactly. I've seen almost every movie about unicorns ever made and Lila has been giving me a crash course on Disney princesses. They're going to Disney World in the spring and she's very, very excited. Clint says Pietro and I might be coming too, depending on our schedules. We told him not to go to any trouble, but he seems to be insisting on it."

"I hear Disney World is aptly named the happiest place on Earth."

"It's not that…" She didn't know exactly how to explain it. "I certainly wouldn't mind going, but I wouldn't want the Bartons to go to any more trouble on our accounts. They've already done so much for both of us…I don't want to ask for more favors."

"I don't think Agent Barton sees things that way. I believe he just wants to expose you and Pietro to something…normal for once, in whatever way he can."

"He's certainly succeeded. This summer has been one long lesson on American pop culture. But we don't need his help. We can take care of ourselves."

"He knows that. We all do. You're one of the most capable people I know, as is you brother. But it's fine to let someone do something nice for you every once in a while. And besides, you can always refuse if the idea makes you uncomfortable."

"Or perhaps we'll be busy with a mission of national security that will settle the matter for us."

The android chuckled slightly. "That could happen as well. I hear that being an Avenger is not easy."

"They all seem to make it work."

"It's truly what you want to do, isn't it? To be a hero, I mean."

"We owe the Avengers-not to mention the entire world-a debt that can never be repaid. But we can do the best we can to make things right. I don't see that we have much of a choice either way."

"I don't think it works like that-"

"For us it does. Besides, I imagine Pietro thinks he will meet all sorts of girls if he's famous. Who am I to deny him that?"

"Did you ever…date much back in Sokovia?"

"Maybe once or twice…it's hard to remember. If Pietro so much as suspected I was seeing someone he would immediately put a stop to it-and there wasn't much time to do frivolous things like that anyway when we had to fight for survival."

"What about now, when things are different?"

She had to contemplate it. "I suppose I might be open to it."

"In that case…there's a movie coming out Friday night that looked mildly entertaining and I was wondering if you would perhaps like to come and see it with me." He spoke extremely fast; Wanda almost missed what he was trying to say.

"I'd love to." she said truthfully. "What time?"

"Perhaps we could meet at the movie theatre around seven?"

"That sounds wonderful." She checked her phone. She'd been out longer than she'd expected; it was starting to get late. "We should go back. He's going to be wondering where I am-and I don't want him to worry." She stood up and tried to brush at a wet spot on the front of her sweater. "I'm going to kill him."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. This is over the line. If he ruined my sweater, I'll skin him too."

"You could simply prank him back."

"The offer is tempting, but I wouldn't know what to do."

"Suppose I offered to help you?"

She took a seat again and pulled out the small pad of paper she always kept in her jacket pocket for just these kinds of emergencies. "Sounds fantastic. What were you thinking of?"

~IT~

It began to draw on toward seven and Vision and Wanda still weren't back yet. Pietro was starting to get worried. Not that they were in any sort of danger; he'd know. But he didn't want to have to postpone the inevitable any longer than he had to. Wanda would be mad enough with him as things stood; if she had time to stew and perhaps form a plan, he was in deep trouble.

"There should be some sort of time limit for these kinds of things." he said as the rest of the family ate dinner without her. Laura kept an extra plate warm just in case.

"I don't think so." Laura replied. "Her and Vision? How long has that been going on?"

"There's nothing going on between them."

Clint and Laura exchanged a look as if to say _He'll understand when he's older._ "Well, I think it's nice." Clint said. "Sure, it's strange-but it's nice. She deserves someone like him in her life."

Not if the 'him' happened to be an android.

Just then Wanda came back inside. Laura immediately pulled out the extra plate. "You finally came. I was beginning to think the two of you decided to skip town altogether."

"And miss Meatloaf Monday? Not a chance." Wanda replied.

"How is Vision doing? Is he adjusting?"

"He seems to be. He asked me to see a movie Friday night. There's nothing going on at that time, is there?"

"Our schedule is free." Pietro could practically feel the excitement radiating off of Laura in waves. "Do you need anything to wear?"

Wanda looked down almost embarrassedly. "I hate to ask, but…would you mind taking me shopping so I can get a few new things? It doesn't have to be much-"

"I've been waiting for you to ask me this all summer! It's no trouble at all. We'll have a lot of fun."

"Can I come too?" Lila asked.

"Of course." Wanda replied. "I need your opinion too."

Pietro managed to find an excuse to leave the table soon after that. He was steaming. Was this a real date? He didn't know.

It was then that he realized his room was extremely hot. He fiddled with the ceiling fan only to realize that it wasn't working in the slightest. He swore under his breath as he went to open the windows.

As soon as he did so, three buckets of water came cascading down on his head.

This time he really did swear. He was sure Wanda was laughing wherever she was. _Payback._

He went to the bathroom to get a clean towel, almost tripping over Chocolate Chip in the process. This wasn't his greatest day. At all.

"Told you so." Laura called absentmindedly.

What was the protocol for dates? Pietro was pretty sure there wasn't any. Which meant he was on his own. Great.

Come Friday night, he would have his work cut out for him.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	25. The New Base

**Five chapters left!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

Wednesday marked the last day of summer vacation for Cooper and Lila. As it happened, that was also the day the new Avengers facility reached completion.

Of course, Steve invited the entire family to come and see the new place. And Clint agreed.

Pietro noticed how he didn't even have to tell Cooper and Lila not to tell. The kids had been raised on vows of secrecy for their entire life; they knew not to bring their fantastic tales to school. In fact, they technically weren't allowed to say they'd had two Avengers staying at their house for the entire summer. Taking a quick field trip to a top secret government intelligence base was just routine stuff.

"I hear Pepper decorated your rooms based on your personal preferences. You'll have to see how you like them." Laura said as everyone piled into the car for the two hour drive to the facility.

The twins exchanged a glance. Pietro was very sure he'd never talked to Pepper Potts about his 'personal preferences'-considering he'd never talked to her at all. "Did she send you blueprints?"

"They're not of very good quality and there's no location for obvious reasons…but you're welcome to take a look." Clint handed him his very secure SHIELD smartphone-which was only to be used for very important SHIELD reasons. The blueprints were large and sprawling; the rooms took up a very small percentage of the base's total floor space. With just a cursory glance Pietro could pick out two swimming pools, two training areas, four dining rooms, two kitchens, eight separate dens, over fifteen different conference areas, and more bedrooms than he could count. "What are all the spare rooms for?"

"New members." Clint replied. "Steve's hoping to make the initiative bigger-to have a whole range of superheroes he can call upon if times get bad. You two might not be the only Enhanced out there-we have to be ready for anything."

"Doesn't that increase the risk of betrayal?" Wanda asked.

"Yes-but think about the Battle of Sokovia. What if we'd had more people on our side? The battle could have been over more quickly-and things could have gone a lot more smoothly."

Pietro could guess his meaning. _I wouldn't have died._ He glanced over toward Cooper and Lila to see how much they were paying attention; to put it simply, they weren't. Clint had broken out the portable DVD player the first time Lila had asked "Are we there yet?" Now the kids were happily watching a movie, seemingly oblivious to the entire conversation. "Do you believe there are others like us?"

"Honestly? Six months ago I wouldn't have thought it was possible for someone to run faster than the speed of sound. I thought mind control was completely imaginary. These days, though? I really do believe anything is possible. I'm not going to count out the possibility that there might be more people like you-kids who were too confused and too desperate to realize who they were really siding with. And if they're out there…we'll find them. We'll offer them sanctuary-and we'll offer them a home. Just like we did with the two of you. And if-when-that happens, we can only hope they'll be like you. That they'll be willing to join the Avengers and fight the good fight."

He shivered. What if there were others like him-twisted and corrupted by HYDRA?

What if they wouldn't change sides?

He looked over the blueprints for the rest of the journey to the new base. He should have been prepared-in fact, he thought he was. Since coming to the US he'd seen some pretty amazing things-he shouldn't have expected anything would surprise him at this point. But he was wrong. Nothing could prepare him for the sight of the new base-long and sprawling across the empty countryside. It was filled with people, moving here and there across the ground like insects. A large A was emblazoned across the top of the roof.

Clint pulled into a small parking lot, flashing his ID card as he did so. "Don't suppose you two have yours yet." he said as he parked the car. "Stark will have to get on that. Being an Avenger comes with its own benefits, you know."

"What sort of benefits?" Wanda asked.

"Free Starbucks."

That was good enough for Pietro.

Cooper and Lila were looking out the window in awe. "Wow." Cooper whispered, his mouth practically hanging open.

"It's really something, isn't it?" Clint asked, helping them put away the DVD player.

"Pietro and Wanda are going to get to _live_ here? All the time?"

"Yes-for as long as they want to."

"You should see the inside. It's even more impressive." Tony said, striding across the tarmac towards them. He looked put together: hair gelled, suit pressed, and trademark smile turned to full wattage. "Good to see you again." he said, shaking hands with Clint. "Lovely of you to make the trip, Laura."

She laughed. "Like I'd refuse."

Tony gave the kids high fives before turning to face the last two members of the party. "Hello Pietro, Wanda. I'm glad you could make it."

"If this is going to be our home for the foreseeable future, I suppose we should make sure we approve of it." Pietro replied. He could still see it, even after all these years; the one shell that refused to go off, lying in the smoking rubble of his apartment building, with the words Stark Industries emblazoned on its side. He was glad that Tony was retiring from the team for the time being. He didn't know how he could handle having to see him every single day, at least at first, knowing that because of this man his parents were dead and the only home he'd ever known had been destroyed.

"Don't worry. You'll like it." Tony led them inside, through two separate metal detectors. "Sorry about all the security. With this place so new and all…"

"It's fine." Clint said. "Looks like this would be a pretty expensive place to rebuild. I'm guessing this isn't paid for by taxpayer dollars?"

"God no. The government would kill us. SHIELD takes care of it-and Stark Industries pays for the difference. It's really quite something, if I do say so myself. Romanoff and Capsicle really put a lot into it." They went through stainless steel front doors that opened and closed seamlessly.

The inside of the base was even more amazing. Framed pictures of top level Avengers hung on the front wall. There was one for every member of the team, both new and old. Pietro raised an eyebrow when he realized that someone had taken the time to add pictures of both himself and his sister. The rest of the Avengers were waiting inside: Rhodey, Sam, Vision, Steve, and Natasha.

"Finally." Nat said, shaking Clint's hand. "You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago."

"Traffic going to the city. Nothing we could help." Clint replied. "How're you doing, Natasha?"

"Same as always." she replied. "Just a little more responsibilities and a few less margaritas."

He sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you not to make drug references around the kids?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's a margarita. Honestly."

"Let me show you around." Steve replied, leading them into a small sitting area. "What do you think of the place?"

"It's amazing." Clint said appreciatively. "You've really outdone yourself this time."

"It's a base, to be sure-but I also want it to feel like a home away from home. As much as something like this can." He turned to the twins and smiled. "What do you think?"

"It's amazing." Pietro said honestly. He glanced at Wanda to see if she had anything to add but she had already retreated to the back of the group to talk with Vision.

"Do you have a laser tag arena here?" Cooper asked.

Steve laughed. "I think we forgot to add one of those."

"We have just about everything else." Sam added. "You ever played laser tag, Cap?"

"I'll have to add it to the list." He glanced at the clock; it was just after noon. "Anyone else hungry?"

They trooped up to the dining room, talking about a lot of people Pietro didn't know and places he'd never been to. "You're so lucky." Cooper muttered, falling in step beside him. "This place is super cool. I wish we could live here."

"Yes." Pietro muttered. "Me too." He felt like he'd just gotten used to his new life-and now things were going to change yet again.

Steve made chicken sandwiches for lunch-and grilled cheese for Cooper and Lila. "So, how have things been around the farm?"

"Not bad." Clint replied. "We're planning on starting the harvest in a few days-and Lila and Cooper start school tomorrow."

"You two excited?" Rhodey asked, glancing at the kids. They both shook their heads vehemently.

"Did you have enough time?" Steve asked, glancing at the archer almost as if they were in on a secret none of the other Avengers were privy to.

Clint glanced down at the table for a minute as if trying to think. "I would say so. They're all yours. But be sure you look after them. They're a part of the family now."

Pietro felt a prickling on the back of his skull, like he was hearing something he should remember but couldn't.

"Don't worry. They'll be in good hands."

Wanda was sitting next to him, though he might have been invisible for all the attention she paid him. She was still talking to Vision; Pietro didn't understand how they never ran out of things to talk about. He was a robot; how much did he actually know about the world?

"It's hard to believe you two are related." Rhodey said, grabbing another handful of potato chips. "I mean, you don't really look like siblings."

They exchanged a look. "It was more apparent before the experiments." Pietro replied. "The scepter kind of bleached my hair when it gave me my powers." He still shivered involuntarily whenever he remembered the experiments. Had it been worth it to volunteer? Sure, they'd done what they'd promised to do-he was stronger, faster, and had even been able to defend his homeland. But now he could never lead a normal life. Essentially, he could never _be_ normal ever again.

It was just a small part of the price there was to pay for greatness.

"There's talk in San Francisco about a new superhero." Steve said, steering the conversation back into familiar waters. "Name's Scott Lang."

"What are his powers?" Clint asked.

"He doesn't have any-but his suit has the ability to shrink down to the size of an insect. Know what he's calling himself?"

Nat rolled her eyes. "Just tell them."

"Ant Man."

Rhodey looked like he had to fight not to snort lemonade out of his nose. "Seriously?"

"I know how it sounds-but apparently he defeated a new generation of super soldiers-suits that can also shrink. Hydra was trying to buy them."

"So what are we planning to do about him?"

"I don't necessarily feel the need to do anything-at least at the moment. It seems like Scott's a good guy and it's not like he's doing anything extremely reckless or anything like that. But maybe in a few months, if he's interested…"

Sam seemed to realize where this sentence was going. "Oh no. Not another one. There are seven of us. Seven is just fine."

"You're just jealous." Rhodey replied. "Considering he threw you around and all that."

Steve decided to ignore them both. "I mean, it's not like we don't have the room."

"We have plenty of those." Natasha replied. "Any outward doubts-aside from the obvious?"

Pietro didn't say anything. If Steve was even considering this 'Ant Man' for a member of the team, he must have at least a few redeeming qualities. Cap had a special talent for seeing the best in everyone-he was able to look past any flaws or mistakes in favor of finding the potential hidden deep inside.

After lunch, they continued the rest of the tour. For once Cooper and Lila were shocked into silence with every room they passed, each more impressive than the next. Some had tables paneled in heavy oak wood while others were framed in gold leaf. The rooms were practical and efficient yet unusually decorative. "Aren't you afraid this place will get blown up and you'll have to replace all of this?" Pietro asked.

"I would hope that wouldn't happen-this place is fireproof, bulletproof, and bomb proof. You're probably standing in one of the most secure facilities in the country-besides the US Capitol, of course." Tony replied proudly.

"And this is the main training area." Nat said as she pulled open a door to a long, high ceilinged room with floor to ceiling glass windows that looked out on the surrounding forest. A set of adjoining rooms contained all sorts of weapons-knives, guns, and even a couple quivers of arrows. "Get used to it-we train a lot."

Lila reached to grab the blunt practice knife nearest the ground but Natasha took it before she could. "Can I keep it?" she asked, using the full power of her puppy eyes on the Russian assassin.

"Nice try. You don't need to know how knives work."

"Please?"

"Nope." Natasha could handle a lot of situations-she knew exactly how puppy eyes worked. "Besides, I don't think your mother would want you to have a knife."

Laura nodded in agreement. "Next thing you know you'll accidentally stab your brother when you get into an argument."

"Would that really be such a bad thing?"

Clint rolled his eyes. "The amount of sibling rivalry they have is amazing."

Even so, they moved out the training room and into the wing of the base specifically for the private quarters of the Avengers. They passed all sorts of empty rooms that Pietro doubted would ever get filled.

"What do you think ours will look like?" Wanda asked, falling in step beside him again. She seemed to alternate between him and Vision as it suited her.

"I don't know." He personally hoped they wouldn't overdo it. He didn't want a lot, honestly. "So, what has the android been doing for the past three days?"

"His name is _Vision._ And he's been helping to get the base ready. Moving furniture and things like that."

"So I'm guessing he _isn't_ trying to destroy the human race?"

She rolled her eyes. "What kind of problem do you have with him? Honestly, Pietro."

"I just don't trust him. That's all."

"That's ridiculous. You're just jealous that he can fly."

"Not really. Flying is overrated."

It was obvious she didn't believe him. "He believes my powers could allow me to levitate by manipulating air currents. I'm thinking about trying it."

"Sounds dangerous."

"It's a good thing no one asked your opinion."

He laughed as he messed up her hair just to annoy her.

Just then they started seeing names on the closed bedroom doors. They passed Steve's, Sam's, Rhodey's, Vision's, and Nat's until they came to two adjacent doors at the very end of a long hallway. Pietro opened the door labelled with his name, bracing himself for the worst.

His room actually looked how he'd imagined he would furnish it; the walls were painted a soft blue and it was furnished sparingly with a desk, chest of drawers, and white bed. Two windows afforded him a view of the countryside. He could still see all the workers moving to and fro, comparing schematics and moving things around.

Someone had thought to include a door between the rooms so he went to see what Wanda thought of her rooms. It looked much like his-except her walls were painted a deep red. "What do you think?" he asked, taking a seat in her desk chair. It was surprisingly comfortable.

"It's nice." she replied. "It's not overwhelming."

"Do you like it?"

"Yes. What about you? How's yours?"

"Same. Should be interesting."  
"Can you believe we'll actually be living here in a couple of weeks?" It didn't seem real-most of the time he couldn't even remember that he was really an Avenger. The Avengers team was the face of safety and security worldwide; they were all household names. And yet they were willing to accept two Sokovian survivors with absolutely nothing to their name and nothing special about them except for some freakish abilities. It put a lot of pressure on both him and Wanda, trying to live up to everyone's expectations.

"I know. It's amazing-but we'll be very behind."

"We'll learn and adjust. We always have."

~IT~

The final stop on the tour was an outdoor courtyard filled with shade trees and stone benches. It was quiet and tranquil; Pietro already knew he'd be coming there a lot. However, the main focal point of the yard was a long wall made of black granite, stretching across the border of the property. The words Wall of Valor had been painstakingly etched at its top. "What's this?" he asked, going to investigate. The entire wall was blank.

A hush seemed to fall over the group as Steve replied "It's a wall of remembrance for everyone who's fallen in the line of duty. Luckily we haven't lost anyone yet."

Pietro ran his fingers over the cool stone. By all rights, his name should be up there. He should be dead. But somehow he'd been brought back…and the Wall of Valor remained blank.

"Who wants cookies?" Tony asked after a minute of silence. "Pepper made them so they should be delicious." That seemed like a good idea to everyone else, but Pietro opted to stay outside-just for a couple of minutes.

Usually he tried not to think about the fact that, for some amount of time, he'd been dead. Though he wasn't always able to keep the nightmares at bay-nightmares of a deep and eternal blackness while he'd hovered on the edge of life and death; neither one thing nor the other. Even Wanda didn't know about it-and he hoped she'd never have to. Of course, he was glad to be alive…but he wasn't sure that by all rights he should be.

"What's on your mind?"

He looked up as Wanda took a seat next to him. "Not much."

"You're lying. You look upset."

He sighed. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"If something's wrong, I want you to tell me."

"Nothing's wrong!" He didn't mean to snap and afterwards he felt terrible about it…but the damage was done.

"Fine. I'll be inside." She turned on her heel and left.

"Wait." Pietro said, but she didn't so much as look back.

~IT~

They didn't head back to the farm until much later, when Laura finally had to break up the gathering because Cooper and Lila had school the next day and needed to get a sufficient amount of sleep.

Of course, the kids were practically climbing up the walls when it came time to go to bed.

"I'm not tired." Lila replied. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow."

"Why not?" Laura asked. "It'll be fun."

"No it won't."

Clint sighed. "The sooner the year starts the sooner summer will come again."

"It's nine months of our lives we're never going to get back." Cooper replied.

"How about the twins walk you to the bus stop tomorrow morning? How does that sound?"

Of course, they both liked that idea.

"Remember, you have to tell your friends that they're your cousins from out of town." Laura replied.

"We know, Mom!" Cooper said. "You've only told us like a thousand times!"

"Just making sure you still remember. Now, I'd say it's time for you to get some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow."

Finally, Lila and Cooper were in bed and asleep. Clint invited the twins to watch football with him, but Wanda declined and went to her room to read. She didn't so much as look at Pietro as she left.

He sighed and tried to focus on the television.

"Something wrong?" Clint asked, sensing the invisible tension.  
"No." He didn't want to talk about it-when he wasn't even sure what was going on himself. Hopefully things would be better in the morning. After all, it had been a long and busy day and they were both tired. They probably weren't using the best judgment.

Besides, he didn't want the incident to ruin his last few days of 'summer vacation'. He only had a few days left at the farm-and he was determined to make them count.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	26. Date Night

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

 **Enjoy!**

Lila and Cooper's first week of school seemed to fly by. Of course, there was the usual complaints about homework, a lack of freedom, and a changing social scene but the kids didn't have any outstanding reasons not to go back the next week. Friday rolled around far more quickly than Pietro thought it had any right to.

Wanda and Laura drove into town early in the morning to go clothes shopping while Clint and Pietro did a few small tasks around the farm-fixing things that needed fixing and completely refurbishing the sunroom. Pietro suspected that all the activity was meant to distract him from the impending date. He still wasn't convinced he would be spending the entire afternoon at the farm, but he'd promised his sister he wouldn't interfere in the date or try to watch or record it in any way. And he didn't want to betray her trust. Things were back to normal between the two of them, but the normalcy was shaky; he got the feeling one wrong move was all that was needed to make things worse.

He sighed as he tried to make grilled cheese on the griddle. Laura had taught him how because he liked the sandwiches so much but he'd never tried to make them unsupervised.

"Something wrong?" Clint asked, reading a magazine at the kitchen table. "You seem upset."

"I'm fine." he replied.

"Are you sure? Because I'm an agent of a top secret government organization and I'm very good at reading people's emotions."

Pietro sighed. "Back in Sokovia…things were different. There weren't relationships, so to speak. There were first dates, one night stands…but nothing more than that. I suppose I'm just not willing to let her grow up yet. I feel like this is different…like this android is different than any of the other men she's met before. And I suppose, in a way, that I'm not prepared for things to go farther than a first date. I don't know what to expect."

Clint poured himself a cup of coffee. "Overprotective much?"

"I _am_ twelve minutes older than her. It's kind of my job."

"I take it you've never been in a serious relationship yourself."

"Not like that, no-although Wanda will probably tell you that I've dated every girl in Sokovia."

"Let me give you some advice-sometimes you just have to let people go. Let them grow up. You might not want to…but you can't always hold her hand. She needs to grow up. She wants to grow up-and she can take care of herself."

"I know-but Vision is a robot."

"His intentions are pure. He wouldn't still be in one piece if they weren't. Things will work out. They always do. Don't worry about it."

"Easier said than done."

"You're about to burn the cheese."

Pietro swore and turned the cheese so it would cook evenly.

"Anyway," Clint continued, "she's lucky to have a brother who cares about her so much. Maybe too much. And deep down, she knows that. Just let things play out how they're going to play out. And make sure she knows that you support her decision-even if you don't. She needs your support. You're the most important person in her life. And that's not going to change anytime soon."

"I know." He sighed. "Sometimes…not all the time, but sometimes….I almost wish we were back in Sokovia. Things were simple-you steal, you lie, you cheat…you do whatever you have to do to get ahead. We helped out as much as we could-I stole a lot for others, those even less fortunate than us, and Wanda provided distraction. We… _knew_ each other. Sometimes we could even know what the other was thinking. And ever since coming to America…there's been so much to adjust to. So much to change. It's overwhelming, and at times a little nerve wracking. And we're going different places…I am beginning to realize we won't be together for the rest of our lives. She'll find someone, I'll find someone…we'll have our own families, our own jobs. It's harder to connect."  
"It's called growing up. Happens to everyone. But just because you're going different places doesn't mean you'll be any less close or love each other any less. You'll always be part of each other in one way or another. You're too close not to be; you have so many memories that no one should have to live through, especially not kids. But they're integrated into your being; they make you who you are. And they connect you. Yeah, you'll probably have your own circles. Your own families, your own friends, and your own jobs. Maybe you won't live in the same neighborhood, or even in the same country. But you'll still be close. You'll still be siblings. It's been a couple years at least since Laura has seen some of her siblings-they live all over the world, actually-but they're still close. They video chat at least once a week. They share pictures of their kids. They text each other all the time. It works. It's conventional, but it works. And it'll work out between you and your sister too. You're not going to lose her-in more ways than one. You'll always be close. This is a period of change for both of you. Sometimes it's going to suck. Let's just be honest here. But life has lots of good parts too. There are still so many things you haven't experienced yet-make your own frozen yogurt, quality fast food, two dollar Tuesdays at the movie theatre. And soon you'll be completely adjusted."

"I hope you're right, old man."

He rolled his eyes. "Trust me. I've lived it. Now what do you say we paint the barn? Laura is always telling me it's too faded to look like a proper barn."

"A proper barn is supposed to look faded. I would think it would give the property a sense of 'rustic charm'."

"Exactly. Nicely said, by the way."

"Thank you. For a while a few years ago Wanda was very interested in those home improvement shows."

"…They can be addicting. Sometimes…"

~IT~

"What do you think?"

Laura eyed the dress critically, holding it up to first the mannequin and then to Wanda. "I like it. Add it to the pile." She placed it in the car, where the pile of dresses to try on was steadily growing higher and higher, and moved on down the line. "Although I did like that red one."

They browsed for a minute or two before she pulled out a blue one. "What about this? Do you like it?"

"It's nice." Wanda fingered a fold of fabric carefully. It ran through her fingers like sea foam. The clothing store Laura had taken her to wasn't expensive by any sense of word but the price tag still made Wanda's eyes want to pop out of their sockets. She felt bad having the Bartons spend any more on her than was strictly necessary. "But there are others-"

"Put it in the cart."

It was late morning on a Monday; the store was borderline empty. "How old were you the first time you went on a date?"

"Fifteen. It was a guy from my biology class whose friends had dared him to ask me out. We were both so nervous I can't believe we actually went through with it and we spent the first fifteen minutes in awkward silence. But after that it was fun-I actually dated him on and off for almost three years. Have you ever been on a date before?"

"Maybe once or twice-but that was a long time ago and it was more because we were curious about how it all worked than any real attraction. Besides, this feels…different." She couldn't quite explain it; she wasn't really sure she understood it herself.

Laura nodded. "Understandable. You're a little older, a little wiser-probably not looking for the same things you were when you were fifteen, sixteen years old. I like this one. What do you think?"

"Too many rhinestones."

"Don't you like rhinestones?"

"Not an inordinate amount. How do you know when you've found the right man?" She knew she was too young for that sort of thing, but she was very curious. Besides, the Hydra base she'd lived in for the past five years had taught her a lot about science but not about the way the world of dating worked.

"Hmm." Laura glanced through a few more dresses but didn't add any more to the cart. "I don't know. I suppose you just know. Subconsciously, when you feel like you know the guy almost as well as you know yourself…when you know you can trust him with anything. It's a long process; it's not one to be rushed."

"And sometimes it's not forever."

"Right. Times change, your opinions change, things happen that you wouldn't expect and sometimes you find yourself in the market all over again. That's the good thing about love-sure, it breaks your heart but it also gives you a second chance. Sure, it didn't work out this time but who's to say it won't work out next time? You always have a fresh start. Just because you think someone's perfect but you end up finding that you have conflicting interests doesn't mean you'll never find that special someone. Love is just a game where you roll the dice and hope you get lucky-but you have to play. It doesn't work if you don't at least try." She eyed their pile, which had increased almost exponentially. "I'd say we'll be able to find something from within this pile. What do you think?"

"I'd hope so. Otherwise I think we've cleaned this store out."

Laura sent her off to the dressing room with the first five dresses. "And don't worry about the price. If there's a dress you like but it's more than you want to spend, save it anyway."

"I wouldn't want to cause any trouble-"

"No trouble. You're a friend. We always provide for our friends."

They spent most of the morning in the dress shop, with Wanda trying on dress after dress. Some of them she liked, others she didn't, but they were all a little different and very pretty in their own ways. Eventually, she decided on the red dress-it wasn't too gaudy, but it was comfortable and had a reasonable price.

Laura checked her watch. "We still have a couple of hours before the kids get home from school. I know a nice little diner nearby that serves good lunches. Want to get some?"

"Sounds great." Wanda knew she wouldn't be able to eat much as the time wound closer and closer to the date but she thought she'd be able to manage some soup. "Thank you so much-for everything."

"Of course. Don't mention it."

~IT~

The afternoon seemed far longer than usual. Wanda did what she could to keep herself entertained-she went on three different walks around the property, tried to read, and even tried to watch a little TV. It didn't work. She always felt restless; more and more she was wanting the date to be over just so she could stop worrying about it.

She threw her book down in annoyance, realizing that she wasn't going to be able to get past page ten. Instantly, Snowflake took this as a sign that she could jump onto her lap and sit down, begging for attention. Wanda laughed and scratched behind the cat's ears the way she knew she liked it. "You know, I'm really going to miss you when I go back to New York." The date was already circled on her calendar; it loomed in the back of her mind like a big red question mark. She didn't know exactly what to feel about the whole thing. Of course, it would be good to train and see the other members of the team again-but she couldn't imagine leaving the farm. It was basically her home now-or the closest thing to a home she had. "You're lucky you'll never be in love."

Snowflake just looked up at her curiously and played with her fingers.

Just then, Pietro came in and sat down on the couch on the other side of the room, draining a glass of lemonade. He was covered in a layer of clean sweat; obviously he'd just come in from outside. "How is it going?"

"Fine." she replied. "Did you have a good morning?"

"Yes. Did you find a good dress?"

"Yes."

"Are you nervous for tonight?"

"No." she lied. Doubtless Pietro would be able to pick up on that fact; he always did.

"Don't be. Vision seems like an android who has his priorities straight. You'll have a lot of fun."

She sighed. "I hope so."

"Hey," he said, nudging her so she would look at him, "don't worry. You just have to give it a try, you know? What do you have to lose? Nothing. Don't you talk to him all the time?"

"Not all the time. Just when he's in town."

"See? It's just like that. Just at a fancy restaurant with quality food instead of watery coffee. It's still the same premise."

She nodded, fiddling with one of her necklaces. "Are you still upset?"

He sighed. "I was never upset. Not at you, anyway. Just…at change. At the fact that we're both growing up and things aren't what they used to be. We have more responsibilities-and more opportunities. I think I got too overprotective and I let it all get to me."

"You think?"

"Don't push it. Anyway, have a great time. I know you will."

Her smile was genuine as she stood up to go get ready. "Thank you. Can things go back to normal now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Will you stop taking up arms at every little thing? Can we just be us again? Not Avengers or refugees. Just us-like always."

He nodded. "Just us."

~IT~

The ensuing night was one of the longest of Pietro's life-although this time it wasn't because the world as he knew it was coming to an end. Vision drove up at precisely five thirty on the dot in a shiny black convertible that Pietro was sure he had borrowed from Tony and drove off with Wanda in the passenger seat five minutes later. That left Pietro to find ways to entertain himself. First he and the kids played with Legos until Laura announced that it was time to eat. After dinner he had his driving lesson with Clint; both the twins were fast learners and they were fast approaching the time they could test for their learners permit. Clint wanted them to have at least that before they went back to New York in a couple of weeks.

By the time he got back Cooper and Lila had already gone to bed, which left him to watch a movie with Clint and Laura. Laura had taped one of the old-timey war romances she liked to watch, which both Clint and Pietro found brutally boring, but they pretended to watch with interest so as not to hurt her feelings. Once the movie was over it was close to ten thirty, which meant Wanda would be due back within the half hour.

First Pietro tried to read. Then he tried to draw. Eventually he resorted to pacing-at least until Laura told him to stop if he wanted the kids to stay asleep. He ended up playing with the cats; Chocolate Chip always needed someone to play with her while Snowflake seemed to look to him as the next in command with Wanda gone. The minutes seemed to pass at the speed of maple syrup and he found himself constantly looking out the window for Vision's car. His mind couldn't help jumping to all sorts of terrible scenarios; he checked his phone for new messages far more than he knew he should. _Shouldn't they be back by now?_

Finally, at exactly 10:59, the car drove up in front of the farm. Pietro watched as Wanda got out, said something to Vision, closed the door, waved, and started to walk back to the front porch. By the time she opened the door he was ready and waiting to open it and bombard her with questions. "How was it?"

"Calm down, kid." Clint said, reading some important looking documents at the kitchen table. "Give her some room to breathe."

"Right. Sorry." He took five steps back. "So, what happened?"

"It was nice." Wanda replied almost cryptically.

"Did you have any trouble with the reservations?" Laura asked, looking up from where she was washing the popcorn bowl from the movie.

"No. Everything worked out very well. We're going to see a movie Wednesday night, if that's all right with everyone."

"That should work. You and Pietro are going to school on Monday."

Pietro groaned. He'd been trying hard to forget. "And how was the date?"

"It was good. We talked a lot. He's such a gentleman."

"Are things serious yet?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's the first date, Pietro. Honestly."

"Right, right. I understand. Well, I'm glad you had a good time." And he was. She deserved a chance to be happy. "I assume you're tired."

She barely managed to stifle a yawn as she picked up Snowflake and absentmindedly started to pet the kitten's soft fur. "Yes. Very. Good night, Pietro."

"Good night." He said his good nights to the rest of the family, stopped in on both Cooper and Lila to check that they were both sleeping soundly, and went back to his room to finish his book. He shook his head almost ruefully as he closed the book on the last page. He had always assumed he'd be the first to find a steady girlfriend, the way he'd been first to experience almost everything else. But somehow Wanda had managed to go on a real sit down date before he did.

He hadn't seen that coming.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	27. High School

**First of all, I just want to say thanks again for all the follows, reviews, and favorites! It's so nice to hear people are enjoying this little story and I love to hear your feedback! Here's a super long chapter, just because you're all such amazing and awesome readers.**

 **So, here is the long awaited high school chapter. I had a lot of prompts, so I tried to take some of the main ideas and work them into a cohesive story. I had to rewrite quite a bit; I hope you like it :)**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

"Remind me again why this is necessary."

"Clint and Laura think it would be nice for us to spend a day at a regular high school like regular teenagers, doing regular things and pretending that we're normal."

"Remind me again why we decided to agree."

"That I can't tell you."

The school bus smelled like a mix of humid air, gym socks, and body odor-a unique combination found nowhere else in the entire world, he was sure. It was packed with kids, all talking over each other about their summer vacations, who was dating who, who had the worst teacher for biology, and how much they wanted it to be summer again. Every so often, they would sneak a look at the twins who had managed to find seats in the back of the bus and were trying to be as antisocial as they possibly could, but they didn't try to start a conversation. Pietro was eternally grateful. It was far too early for him to even contemplate talking to another human being outside his immediate family.

"It's just for one day." Wanda said, trying to read her book. "Then we can pretend this never happened."

"Right. One day that's going to feel eternally long and brutally boring. What is wrong with learning about things off the Internet?" Their education back in Sokovia had been pretty low key-math on Mondays, history on Tuesdays, science on Wednesdays (which included buying stuff on the black market for possibly illicit science labs), literature on Thursdays (basically whatever books they could find for less than ten cents), English on Fridays (Wanda had been adamant that they know how to communicate in case a situation ever arose) and nothing on Saturday and Sunday. If they didn't know how to do something they would break into one of the abandoned mansions in uptown Sokovia and hack the wifi so they could teach themselves. It was a simple life, but it taught them everything they needed to know.

"At least it's everyone's first day."

The bus ride seemed to take forever. By the time they finally reached the high school-a long redbrick building that looked suspiciously like a prison to Pietro-he was all but ready to jump out a bus window just so he could get out that much more quickly. Once they were off, they had to find the dean's office so they could pick up their schedules for the day.

They got lost. Twice. Mostly because Pietro didn't know where he was going and he pretended that he did.

And of course, when they did get their schedules, the only class they had together was American Literature at the end of the day. Perfect. He was loving high school already.

"At least you have a gym period. That should be easy for you." Wanda said, trying to make some good out of the situation. They were seated in the school commons area-a long grassy field filled with benches and stone nooks and crannies for students to sit and talk while they waited for the first bell to ring.

"Right after Modern Government. I don't even know what that means."

She sighed. "Just try and fit in."

"I think that is impossible. In case you haven't noticed, we are not exactly what most people would call normal."

"Just pretend."

"That's easier said than done."

The first bell rang to signal the start of classes, jarring Pietro's ears and making him wish-not for the first time and certainly not for the last time-that he was anywhere but here. Sure, the HYDRA tests had been terrible-but at least they hadn't asked him to annotate anything. "I'll see you at lunch, right?" Wanda stuffed her book back into the messenger bag Laura had lent her for the day and pulled out her schedule. "Do you know where you're going?"

"I can figure it out. See you then." He examined his own schedule carefully, joining the crush of students going in the front doors. It was so loud; he wasn't used to such an experience and he'd certainly never been around so many people. HYDRA had more or less isolated him from most of his target peer groups; he'd never seen so many teenagers in one place. Besides, the Maximoffs didn't play well with others-especially if they didn't know them. Pietro had no problem stealing necessities for complete strangers, but that was an entirely different deal-you only had to exchange a few words and then go your separate ways and pray you didn't get shot by the government. No need to have a full conversation.

Of course, there was one good thing about high school-there were all kinds of girls.

"I haven't seen you around here before." one of them said, falling in step beside him and moving a curtain of brown hair over her left shoulder. "Are you new?"

He shrugged. "You could say that. I'm just here for the day."

"Just for the day? Are you going to go to school here?"

"No. I'm from…out of town."

"Ooh. Sounds exotic. Where are you from?"

"Sokovia."

"That's the place that got blown up last May, right? By Ultron."

"As a matter of fact, it was."

"I'm sorry. That sounds terrible. You've had to make a huge adjustment, right?"

"It's been…amazing. America takes some getting used to but it is truly wonderful in many ways-especially their wide choice of women."

She laughed. "Are you flirting with me?"

"Maybe just a little bit."

She held out a hand for him to shake. "Hanna Lewis."

"Peter Smith. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Where's your first class?"

He glanced at his schedule. "Political Science with a Mr. Oliver in room 3306. Do you know where that is?"

"Yes-I have woodworking in 3309. I'll walk you over."

They talked all the way up the staircase about what they'd done over their summer vacations. Of course Pietro had to fabricate almost everything about his background-he was staying with relatives for the summer while his parents were on a business trip in France. He lied easily; he was sure Hanna didn't notice anything was amiss. Then again, he'd been lying for most of his life.

"I'll see you around, right?" she asked, stopping outside his classroom.

He gave her his best smile; the kind he would usually accompany with a good pick up line. "I'd really like that." He watched as she walked down the hallway and disappeared into a classroom near a set of blue double doors, dark ponytail swinging from side to side like a pendulum.

He was almost late. Not quite, but almost.

Pietro could practically feel the stares and the way people started talking about him as he walked by. Obviously they didn't get that many new seniors out here in the middle of nowhere. He didn't mind though. At least no one here knew his real identity-or his life story. He could deal with a few stares and whispers every now and then.

The teacher looked up and smiled absentmindedly as he shuffled through a stack of papers on his desk. "Are you Peter?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I am."

"I'm Mr. Oliver. Nice to meet you. Would you like to sit in the back, next to David?"

He followed his pointing finger to an empty desk near the back window, next to a kid who looked far too old to be in high school. He glared at Pietro menacingly as he took his seat carefully and tried not to roll his eyes.

Right. This should be fun.

~IT~

Wanda spent most of her morning with her head down absorbing all the information she could. She learned more in one day than she'd been able to learn in two weeks back in Sokovia; information she never thought would be relevant to her everyday life. She didn't understand why most people didn't like school. They were getting a chance to learn…everything.

And then the teacher of her trig class placed a packet the size of a small book in the middle of her desk. "I expect all of this filled out by tomorrow morning." she said as all the kids collectively groaned. Even Wanda grimaced-and she didn't even have to do the assignment.

"Why am I not surprised?" the girl next to her asked, flipping through the packet curiously. "Still, I guess I'd hoped I could go on pretending it was summer for at least a couple more days. I'm Leita, by the way."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Willa."

"I know. The whole school is buzzing about it. New kids aren't exactly the most common occurrence-especially kids with such strange accents. What is it? Russian?"

"Sokovian, actually."

"Oh yeah. Sokovia. Fell out of the sky, right?"

"You could say that." It was funny; five months ago no one outside of Eastern Europe even knew what Sokovia was-and now, it was a sore spot for the entire world. "My brother and I are trying to get settled in the US."

"Are you staying in the area?"

"No. We're moving to the city next week."

"Too bad. It's always nice to see new faces." Leita laughed as she wrote down her assignment in the school planner. "You wouldn't believe some of the rumors they're coming out with about you two."

Out of habit, Wanda's blood ran cold. "What rumors?"

"They're insane. Really, I don't know where they get such insane ideas-"

"What are they saying?"

"They're saying that you and Peter look a lot like those two new Avengers, from the few pictures they've released from the incident. It's insane, don't you think?"

"Yeah." she forced herself to laugh. "Really insane. I don't know how they do it." She noticed the teacher was glaring at them from the front of the room and diligently bent over her math. The last thing she needed was to be called out for not paying attention in class. It was an odd sensation; things almost felt normal.

It was a surprisingly nice feeling.

~IT~

The rest of their morning class passed without incident. The twins met for lunch on the wide green lawn where the rest of the student body seemed to be congregating, near a series of tall stones carved into seats.

"How was your morning?" Pietro asked as he opened the lunch Laura had packed for them. They'd wanted to make their own of course, but she'd insisted. He didn't mind; Laura was probably a much better chef than he was.

"It was all right." Wanda replied. "It was so busy." She was exhausted. When it came to fighting robots, she could go for hours. But sitting through a full day of school? Not so easy.

"I know. What were your favorite classes?"

"Probably English and Math." Those had been her favorites back in Sokovia too; Pietro just liked anything physical. Textbooks made him bored. "What about you?"

"Political science. It's actually very interesting, when you consider why politicians do what they do." He noticed the boy he'd had to sit next to in his first class striding over with a glare on his face and said what Steve would have classified as a bad language word (the Avengers were never going to let him live that down. Ever).

"Don't tell me we've been here four hours and you've already made an enemy." his sister said tiredly.

"I've also made a lot of friends. You know, I think there are more young women here than there were in all of Sokovia."

She rolled her eyes. "You're not here to flirt, Pietro."

Just then, David reached them. A group of his lackeys hung back, as if unsure whether to join their leader or wait for further confirmation. "You're sitting in my seat."

"Was it reserved?" Pietro replied coolly. "I didn't see the sign."

"It's my seat. Now get out."

"You know, I don't think I will. This seat is actually quite comfortable. Besides, everything I've read has told me America is a free country. I think I'm just going to stay here. Find another seat."

He visibly bristled. "I can make your life a living hell."

"I'd like to see you try. Now, if you're finished trying to insult me, would you mind moving along? I would like to enjoy a nice, peaceful lunch with my sister if you don't mind too terribly."

For a while David seemed torn between leaving and punching him-but eventually he turned and left, flipping Pietro off as he did so. Pietro shrugged and went back to his lunch. He'd been through worse. He knew how to handle bullies.

"Do you know him?" Wanda asked casually. She was used to him making friends with all kinds of unsavory characters.

"We're casual acquaintances. He seems to dislike me for some reason I can't quite pinpoint. I would have thought I'm impossible to dislike."

She rolled her eyes again. "Just keep telling yourself that."

~IT~

Pietro's first afternoon class was physical education. Finally things were starting to look up.

At least until he realized that using his super speed powers in front of a group of high school kids who weren't supposed to know that he was technically a superhero was, in Tony's words, 'not a good plan'.

It had started to rain so the class had nothing better to do than run laps mindlessly inside the gym for an entire fifty five minutes. Most of them had someone to talk to as they ran, but of course Pietro was stuck running by himself trying to act like he wasn't bored out of his skull. He had to walk just to make sure he wasn't going fast enough to attract attention.

"Hey, I saw you stand up to David today." a boy said, falling in stride beside him. He was tall and wiry, the kind of kid who looked like he'd grown too much in just a short period of time. "You're either really brave or really stupid."

Pietro shrugged. "Probably a combination of both. I'm Peter. What's your name?"

"Graham. Nice to meet you. So, I'm guessing you're new here."

"That obvious, huh?"

"Small town. Everybody knows everything about everybody else. You're staying with the Bartons for the summer, right?"

"Yeah."

"Relatives of theirs?"

"Our parents are friends. My mother went to college with Laura."

"Cool. They seem really nice. My younger brother is on their son Cooper's baseball team."

"Yes. They really know how to make someone feel like family. Anyway, I'm just here for the day. I've never gone to a public high school before."

"Where'd you go? Some private one?"

"Not exactly…I've never been to high school."

David practically stopped walking in the middle of the track. "That has to be illegal. Never even been homeschooled?"  
"Nope. I come from Eastern Europe. Things were a little different there."

"I hear things have been heating up there lately, what with all the Sokovian refugees flooding back in now that the debris field is mostly cleared."

"I wouldn't know. I've been away since May."

"Where was home?"

"Sokovia."

"You're kidding! Did you see the Avengers?"

"Unfortunately not. I was on vacation in France at the time." _If only._

"Too bad. They're amazing-they've saved the world twice."

"So I've heard. Are you a fan?"

"Who isn't, in this country? So, are you coming to school here later in the year?"

"Nope. I'm leaving again next week-for New York City."

"Too bad. You seem nice. Want to swap numbers after this? I've never been to a big city-you can text me all sorts of pictures."

Pietro laughed. "I'd like that."

Graham talked for the rest of the period, talking about what he'd done over the summer, what his favorite subjects in school were, and what he liked to do in his free time. Pietro was intent to let him chatter on; this was the first time he'd made a friend in over five years. Since the experiments he hadn't had time-and even before that he and Wanda had been too busy looking out for each other to look out for anyone else. He'd never realized just how much he'd missed having someone outside his immediate family to talk to-especially since Wanda seemed to have a habit of knowing exactly what he was feeling whether or not he felt the need to tell her.

All too soon, the bell rang to signal a passing period. In the locker room the two boys exchanged both phone numbers and email addresses, just to be safe. "It was nice to meet you." Graham said as they struggled to reorient themselves back in the crowded hallway.

"Yeah. It was nice to meet you too." With that, Pietro let himself be carried away by the current of people sweeping him off to his next class. He looked back once to see a shock of brown hair turning a corner down the hall as Graham totally disappeared from sight.

He sighed, trying to imagine what it would be like if he was in a position to cultivate friendships. He could have people over on the weekends, go to see movies with a big group…do all sorts of things he would never be able to do. But he couldn't-that wasn't the life he had chosen. He was an Avenger now-which meant anyone and everyone he had ever cared about was in danger. Being an Avenger meant shutting people out. It meant canceling dates, making excuses, and leaving unexpectedly to keep people safe-even if it meant hurting their feelings. With a heavy heart he added Graham to his contacts list, knowing he would never dial that number again. It was just better this way, easier…

He swore, turning off his phone so it was on vibrate again. Why couldn't he be normal? Why did things have to be so complicated?

Why did the path he'd chosen to follow have to be so lonely?

~IT~

Wanda tried to stay out of the way in the bus loading zone as people found their friends and clambered onto the buses waiting to take them back home. Pietro was taking forever to arrive. They'd be lucky if they were able to catch the bus at this point, much less if they'd be able to find seats together.

Just then she saw him come out of a door on the other side of the building surrounded by five or six boys. They were all talking excitedly-and they all said goodbye as he left to go stand next to her. _Incredible._ "It looks like you had a productive afternoon."

"I added three new numbers to my contacts list. What about you?" His voice sounded clipped and edgy. _Something's wrong._

She tried to hide her enthusiasm. "It was actually really fun. I almost wish we could go back tomorrow."

"No you don't. Let's go. I don't fancy walking home." They headed for the bus.

Just then, David and a couple of other kids that looked like they could be professional basketball players stepped in front of them, blocking their way. "Going somewhere?" David asked.

Pietro rolled his eyes. "I don't want to start anything. Just walk away and no one has to get hurt."

"Sure. I'm the one in trouble here. Looks like you're outnumbered."

"Get out of the way." Pietro replied. "We have a bus to catch."

"Sure, what's the rush? We can just stay here and settle our differences."

Wanda just had time to see David try to swing a punch-but Pietro had deflected it before she had time to worry about him. He retaliated with a punch of his own. It hit David with the force of a train, sending him flying into a nearby bush. Everyone else looked at them like they were Martians.

"Was that really necessary?" she muttered, even as she waved her hand just slightly to send a tiny bit of red mist into his mind to keep him down.

Pietro shrugged. "I've been wanting to do that for a while now. Come on-we're going to miss the bus." With that he led her through the crowd and up onto the bus. They parted like the Red Sea before them and Wanda had to really work not to smile. _You think that was a fight? That was barely more than a civil conversation._

~IT~

"How was it?" Clint asked as they walked home from the bus stop. The entire family had turned out to meet them and bombard the twins with questions about their first day.

"It was all right." Pietro said casually. "There were no surprises."

"Pietro punched someone in the face." Wanda replied. "Though he really did have it coming."

"Says the person who mind controlled him so he would stay down in front of a crowd of potential witnesses. I don't think I was particularly reckless."

"I was doing you a favor."

"I can take care of myself."

"So I can't have a little fun every now and then?"

Clint and Laura exchanged a look. "You got into a fight?" Laura asked.

"No. We stopped a fight before we could escalate." Pietro clarified. "There's a difference."

It had been an interesting experience. He'd learned a lot-not just about science but about the way it felt to be a normal teenager. Maybe in another life he could imagine going to high school. He could imagine dating a normal girl and studying for his finals just like a normal student.

But he wasn't normal. Not anymore. Maybe he never really had been.

Back in the house he had one of the apples that Laura provided before he headed to his room to start to pack. He'd accumulated so many things over the summer that he knew there was no way it was all going to fit into the old suitcase he'd been provided after Sokovia. He was still annoyed, for a reason he couldn't quite explain.

Of course, it wasn't long before Wanda entered without knocking. "What happened?" she asked, taking a seat on the edge of his bed and watching him expectantly.

"What do you mean?" he asked, trying not to sound brusque.

"You're not acting like yourself. Something's upsetting you."

"I'm fine."

"No you aren't. You're upset. You're stressed, annoyed, angry, and just a little bit regretful. Care to tell me why?"

"I thought you said you weren't going to go inside my head unless you had a very good reason to."

"You're upset. That's a good reason."

He groaned. "Can you just believe me for once in my life when I say that I'm fine?"

"No because that would mean you'd be lying. Pietro, what happened? Do I need to hex somebody?"

"No. It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?"

He decided not to answer, hoping that if he just gave her the cold shoulder she'd eventually go away. No such luck. Of course.

"Do you want me to start guessing?"

No response.

"Was it one of your classes?"

"My classes were fine."

"Did someone break your heart five minutes after you first met?"

He rolled his eyes. "No."

"Did someone make fun of your accent?"

"No-although I did get a few odd looks."

"Did your lunch card not work?"

"It worked perfectly."

She sighed. "Did that…asshole say something to you?" That got Pietro's attention. Wanda never swore. Like, ever. Unless something big was going down.

"No. It wasn't like that at all. You're completely misreading this. It's just…I met some guys I connect with. Some people I could be friends with."

That was all that was needed for the pieces to click into place in her mind. "Pietro-"

"No, it's stupid. Believe me, I know. I know I can't contact them ever again because if someone were to get my phone they could see what numbers I've called. I know I can't ever make another friend outside SHIELD. I know I can't even date a regular girl without worrying that I'll put her in danger. It's one of the occupational hazards of this job-I'll never be able to make regular friends again. And I understand that. It's just…at school today it made me realize what all we've been missing."

"But we're Avengers. We saved the world. That's worth something, isn't it?"

"Sure, but think of all that we're going to have to give up. Once we get back to the base, how much longer can we hide before someone slips and our faces end up all over the six o'clock news? When will we be famous-and how will that affect us? We'll have to lose our privacy, our old connections-not that we had many to lose, but the sentiment is the same-everything from our old lives. We'll be walking targets for the rest of our lives all because of one decision made in the heat of the moment. I don't regret what we did in the end, or the choices we made when it came down to it-"

"But it's not their fault, Pietro. It's ours. We knew what we were giving up when we signed up for HYDRA. We knew that, should we pull through, we'd never be the same."

"I always thought we would go underground-and instead we're going very public."

"We'll handle it the way we always have-together. And you'll still be able to make friends, Pietro-friends who will know what it's like to be in a different country every other weekend."

"It's not the same-and you know it."

She thought for a moment, wording her response carefully. "I know. We've certainly had to make sacrifices-but really, would you want to be normal? Would you want to be one of those people in their glass houses who hears about all the terrible things that happen in our world but just ignores them all because they don't pertain to them? Yes, you'd get friends and girlfriends, but you wouldn't able to make a difference. You wouldn't be able to be in the heat of the battle, fighting for world peace-fighting for those who can't be fighting for themselves. Yes, eventually people will know who we are. Yes, we'll be targets. But we'll also be inspirations. We can inspire people. We have that power. We can make the world a better place-and that's a pretty big job."

He finally smiled. "But I think we're more than capable of the task."

She visibly sighed. "You're feeling better now."

"Would you stop looking inside my head?"

"I'm not. I can tell, just by looking at you. You'll find someone. You'll find friends."

"I know. And…I guess you do have a point. Going to high school would be a bit repetitive after a while. I'd never get to kill robots." She did have a point; he could make a difference. He could prevent other children from going through what he did-from growing up without a family and a home.

And that beat high school any day.

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	28. Last Straw

**Hey everybody! Welcome back! I know it's been a long time since I last updated, but I've still been trying to get in the swing of school.**

 **Only two chapters left! I'm hoping to finish in the near future.**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

Pietro had never been in a situation where his personal belongings wouldn't fit in a single battered suitcase. Then again, he'd never gotten birthday presents before.

"That's your suitcase?" Clint asked, dropping off a couple books Pietro had left lying around downstairs. "How did it not fall apart on the ride over?"

Pietro ran a hand over the soft leather almost protectively. "It's stronger than it looks." Sure, it wasn't exactly new, but it got the job done.

"You need a new suitcase. Anything else?"

Pietro shook his head, but of course Clint wasn't satisfied. "I think you could go for a few more pairs of running shoes…" he muttered, scribbling something down on a clipboard. "How about outfits?"

"I have several."

"Not enough. We'll get some more of those too. How about books for the plane?"

"It's not that long of a ride-"

"I'll add that to the list."

"It's not necessary, otherwise-"

"Sure it is. We have to send you off in style. You're Avengers now-and Avengers don't do anything second rate. You can pack later-right now we're going shopping."

~IT~

Cooper and Lila were perfectly content to go to the mall as long as they didn't have to try on clothes so the entire family ended up making the drive into town. They spent the morning going from clothing store to clothing store until Pietro was sure he would have enough clothing to last him all the way through the winter and possibly the spring as well. After that they headed to the grocery store to pick up a few essentials-that of course turned out to be a list as long as Lila's arm.

"Let's split up." Laura said as she looked over all the food they needed. "Things should go faster."

"I'll take the boys." Clint said as Laura ripped the list in half. "Are you sure you didn't go overboard?"

"No. Martha Stewart is just getting more complicated."

"We still have to get ready for date night tonight, remember." Clint and Laura were going out again and the twins were staying behind to watch the kids. Cooper and Lila were extremely excited; Lila had spent hours devising their movie watching schedule for the night to come.

"I know, I know. How about we shoot to be done in half an hour?"

"Sounds just fine to me." They split up to accomplish everything on their respective lists in a somewhat reasonable amount of time.

Clint was content to read off the names of items while Cooper and Pietro got them and deposited them in the back of the cart. "Looks like she needs three different types of soup: cream of chicken, cream of barley, and wild rice. Can you get that, Pietro?"

"Sure." He scanned the aisles, trying to decide which one would contain the soups. He'd never been in a grocery store as big as the one the Bartons shopped at; in Sokovia he'd been used to shopping in outdoor markets since all the regular stores were only bombed out shells of their former selves. Finally he found an aisle that looked promising and scanned the shelves just in case.

"Fancy seeing you here."

He groaned inwardly as he saw David and a couple other kids looking equally mindless walk toward him from the opposite side of the aisle. "It's a grocery store. That means it's a place you get food, for those of you who failed the third grade. Yes, it's a huge travesty."

He would have bet good money to say that David had no idea what the word 'travesty' meant. "I don't think we finished things at school."

"There was nothing to finish. I don't get into fights." _Generally speaking._

"Why? Scared you'll lose?"

"No. I just don't want to permanently damage your face." He didn't want to deal with this right now; he turned to leave but the group just followed him.

"Why aren't you coming back to school?" one of the other goons asked. Pietro didn't know his name and didn't care to.

"It's not for me." he replied. "I'm from out of town, anyway."

"Then we have to give you a going away present."

Sure, it was one on three-but Pietro had an unfair advantage. He liked his chances if things came to that.

Clint and Cooper turned into the aisle at exactly that moment, before any punches could be thrown. "Got the soup, Pietro?" Clint asked, taking a quick scan of the situation. "Are they giving you any trouble?"

"No. We were just talking." He grabbed the cans off the shelf and went back to the cart. "See you around." he called over his shoulder as they walked off.

"Want to tell me who they are?"

"Just children who can barely strike a match but want to play with fire. I can handle them. Besides, I've done worse. They're just ignorant."

"How so?"

He shrugged as Cooper ran ahead to take a look at a few Lego sets stacked near the front of the store. "Saturday mornings at the fish market, when the fresh catch came in. Do you know just how many people would be willing to fight tooth and nail just for a few little fish? And some of the places we stayed weren't the safest either. Wanda and I used to take turns keeping watch so our things wouldn't be stolen. It was just easier that way. The experiments were not exactly a piece of cake either." He grabbed the list curiously. "Did we get everything?"

"I think so-unless Laura decides she wants anything else." They headed to the front of the store, met up with the girls, and paid for all of their purchases. Clint grabbed a couple extra bags of coffee just in case ("You can never be too careful.") and they headed back.

"You'll never guess who I ran into by the frozen foods." he told his sister as she made sure Nathaniel was buckled in securely.

"Who?" she asked offhandedly. Nate was being decidedly fussy and she kept having to duck to avoid being hit in the face.

"That clown from school the other day."

That got her attention. "You didn't retaliate, did you?"

He rolled his eyes. "I find your lack of faith in me puzzling. We are both fine. No blood was shed, though not for lack of trying."

"I'm glad we're leaving him behind."

"Although it would have been nice…just a light punch…more of a brotherly sock, really-"

"Pietro."

"Right, right. Fine. You're right." He sometimes wished she wasn't.

~IT~

"Call if you need anything." Laura said, making sure everything was locked up for a final time. Wanda tried not to smile as she remembered the first time they'd been babysitting, when she'd been practically throwing instructions over her shoulder. Now the twins were old pros. "We'll be back around eleven."

"Have fun." Pietro said, helping Cooper arrange his Legos according to color.

"We'll have fun." Wanda added as Nathaniel snuggled into her side.

"Don't burn the house down." Clint replied as he shrugged on his suit jacket and went to start the car.

"He's joking." Laura said, rolling her eyes. "Just a little bit." Then she left too; ten seconds later Wanda heard the telltale squeal of wheels on gravel as their car shot away from the house and into the night.

"Can you read me a story?" Lila asked, clambering onto the couch with three books in her hands.

"Sure." she said, making room so the little girl could sit next to her. Both kids seemed enraptured in the story and Pietro and Cooper had moved on to building a perfect model of Avengers Tower; things seemed to be going well. Then again, she hadn't honestly thought the kids would give her any kind of trouble.

Once she'd read all the stories she possibly could, Lila moved onto interrogation techniques. "What's it like being an Avenger?" she asked.

"It's…interesting. It gives you a lot more responsibility."

"What's that mean?"

Wanda laughed as Snowflake jumped onto her lap and proceeded to make a nest there. "It means you do all the things you're supposed to do-like feeding Snowflake and Chocolate Chip." Lila was notoriously bad at remembering that. "Except Avengers have to make sure the world is safe."

"Daddy says he doesn't want to be an Avenger anymore."

"He wants to spend time with you and your siblings. Being an Avenger can also be a lonely life; you travel all the time and you never stay in one place too long. He probably missed you a lot when he was on all of those missions."

"Yeah. We missed him too. The Battle of Sokovia was really bad though-Mommy had the TV on all day to see if Daddy was all right. We didn't know who had survived and who was dead. It was really scary. But everything turned out okay in the end."

"Yes. I guess it did." She glanced at her brother, building Legos and looking like he didn't have a care in the world. At the beginning of the summer she'd been sure she would lose him for good and now he was back to his cocky nothing-can-touch-me attitude.

Just then the motion sensor in the kitchen started to go off with a frantic jangling noise and the twins exchanged a glance. It was probably a squirrel; squirrels were always running around the yard and setting the detector off at least once a day. Pietro got up to check the footage.

"Two men on the northern side of the property." he said. "They don't look familiar but their truck says they're from the television company."

"Did your mother make an appointment with some men from a television company?" Wanda asked Cooper. He shrugged, eyes wide.

Wanda was torn. It was probably nothing, but…what if it was? She met Pietro's eyes and nodded at the basement door. _Just in case._

The basement was mostly unfinished, covered in stray sheets of metal and the wooden skeletons of rooms that had been planned but were now abandoned. It looked just like every other basement Wanda had ever been in-except for a tall stainless steel door in one corner of the room with a keypad to one side. She typed in the code Laura had given her and the door slid open gently, at least a foot thick. Inside the bunker was a large sitting area with a leather couch, a flat screen TV, and a cabinet full of blu rays. It wasn't that bad of a place to wait out the zombie apocalypse. She went back upstairs to realize that the men were at the door now, ringing the doorbell impatiently.

"Just ignore it." she said, continuing to read another book to Lila and Nate.

The ringing sounded again, more and more insistent-until it felt like it was grating on the inside of her skull. "We know you're in there." one of them called. "Just come out now and no one has to get hurt."

 _Can you get a fix on them?_ Pietro seemed to ask, gesturing to the door.

She tried; all she could sense was a sense of duty and purpose. She tried probing further but was met with what felt like a brick wall inside their heads; preventing her from going any further. It gave her a headache; add that to the still ringing doorbell and she thought she was going to be ill. Even the kids looked uneasy now; Snowflake and Chocolate Chip hid under the couch.

"What do they want?" Lila asked quietly. "Are they dangerous?"

 _They're blocking me out._ That was impossible. In all the time she'd had her powers, she'd never once met anyone who could effectively guard their thoughts; it just wasn't possible.

Whoever these men were, they obviously weren't from the cable company.

The doorbell rang again. "Open up!" another man barked. "It's no use hiding. We know you're in there and we know who you are."

That was it. "Come on. We're going into the bunker." She picked up Nate while Pietro ushered the other two kids into the basement and the bunker. Once inside, she handed the baby to Cooper to look after.

"You'll be safe here." Pietro said. "Wanda and I are just going to investigate what's going on. Don't come out until we come and get you-for any reason. Understand?" All the kids nodded, eyes wide. "Good. We're going to get the cats and then come back."

Wanda made sure that the door to the bunker was closed securely before they went upstairs.

Pietro found Chocolate Chip first, running around the house like she always did. "Slow down, cat!" he said in annoyance as he scooped her up finally. She still struggled frantically, trying to get out of his grasp. "I'm just trying to save your life!" He turned back to Wanda. "Can you get Snowflake?"

She nodded at the same moment the door rattled in its frame. _They're trying to force their way in._ Pietro looked worried. "Hurry." he replied before he ran down into the basement again.

Snowflake was still under the couch, curled into as small a ball as was humanly possible. "Snowflake." Wanda said gently, getting down on her knees so she could try and gently coax her out. The door was rattling worse than ever but she tried to block it all out. All that mattered was Snowflake, and Snowflake was terrified. "Come here, Snowflake."

The cat didn't budge.

"It's okay. I know how it sounds right now, but…it will all be okay. You're safe. I promise. Now will you please come out so I can take you downstairs? Please?"

Snowflake meowed at her once but still didn't move.

Then the door caved in and Wanda realized she was out of time-so she levitated the couch, reached underneath, and grabbed the cat. The men were inside the house now; she ran as fast as she possibly could to get to the bunker. She typed in the key code almost frantically, the door opened, and she slipped inside. "They're here." she said, putting Snowflake down on the couch.

"Do you know what they want?" Cooper asked.

Before she could answer, Lila went pale. "I forgot Princess Rainbow Unicorn!" She tore out of the bunker and ran upstairs before Pietro could stop her.

 _Shit._ "I'll go after her." Wanda said quickly. Pietro looked like he was going to protest but she said "Make sure the kids will be taken care of." and ran off. They didn't have time to argue-and she didn't want Pietro to have to play the hero yet again.

The main floor of the house was quiet-too quiet. She ran upstairs without seeing anyone, friend or foe. Of course, this just served to make her even more nervous.

Lila was in her room, grabbing Princess Rainbow Unicorn from the top of her pile of stuffed animals. "Sorry." she said almost in embarrassment. "That probably wasn't a good idea."

"You're right. It wasn't. We have to get going now. Are you ready to run?"

Lila nodded, slipping her hand into hers. Wanda had never felt this much pressure. Lila was counting on her to be a hero-and she had to step up to the plate if she wanted to live up to the little girl's expectations.

"Found them." One of the men stepped out of the hallway, blocking the doorway and wearing an almost sadistic smile.

"Lila, get behind me." Wanda said just loud enough for her to hear.

"But I want to-"

"Lila, get behind me."

She silently complied, as Wanda began to scan the room for other exit strategies. "Who are you?" she asked, trying to buy time. "Who sent you?"

"That's not important. What is important is that I have a gun and you don't." He pulled out a small pistol, holding it so tightly his knuckles were beginning to turn white. Obviously her reputation proceeded her.

"Do you have any idea what I can do?"

"If you try anything funny, I'll shoot the little girl-even if I have to shoot through you first. Now, you and your brother are just going to come with us nice and simple, and nobody gets hurt."

She caught sight of the laundry chute on the opposite wall. _Perfect._ She nudged Lila and ever so slightly nodded to the chute in question.

"Don't go with him." Lila said quietly.

"She won't be harmed." the man replied. "Just…reeducated."

 _Time to see how well I can bluff._ She sighed. "You have to swear that you won't hurt her-or anyone else."

"Of course not. They aren't the big picture here. Just collateral damage."

"Do I have your word?"

The man nodded. "Yes."

She heard footsteps on the stairwell. She had to hurry this up before she had to deal with two on one. "I want to say goodbye to her first."

The man rolled his eyes. "You have thirty seconds."

Wanda knelt down and Lila hugged her fiercely. "Do you have a plan?" the little girl whispered as quietly as possible.

"When I give the signal, I want you to run as fast as you can to the laundry chute. When you get to the basement, run to the bunker. Don't stop for anything, no matter what you hear. Do you understand?" Lila nodded. Wanda raised her voice so the agent would be able to hear her. "Be good. You're the best almost-little-sister I've ever had."

"You're the best almost-older-sister I've ever had-and Cooper and Nate think so too. Thank you so much for everything."

 _Don't thank me yet._

"That's enough." the man said. "Let's go. We're on a schedule."

Wanda took one step away from Lila, then two. Lila looked like she wanted to run after her, but mercifully she stayed in one place. "Take care of your brothers." she replied, still looking at the little girl. She took two more steps and felt the cool metal of a gun being pressed into the back of her head.

"Good. Now, let's go. We're on a schedule." She could sense him relaxing; he wasn't as alert as he should be. She waited for three seconds, just to make sure he thought she was compliant.

Then she sent a spear of magic into his gut. It should have brought him down, but he just seemed momentarily stunned. "Now!" she cried as she grappled for the gun. It shot once at the ceiling, making a hole in one of the wooden support beams. Lila sprinted over to the laundry chute, ducking inside with barely a backward glance.

The man managed to wrest the gun away from her. "Nice try." he said, quickly regaining his composure. "Unfortunately, we were trained for this mission. We know what to expect-and what to avoid."

 _I highly doubt you know as much as you think you do._ "Let's see what you've got." She raised her hand to make another grab for the gun-but he grabbed her wrist and twisted.

She could hear the crack as her wrist broke.

~IT~

Pietro hated being helpless.

He wanted to follow Wanda; she should have been back by now. He didn't know what was going on-and that scared him more than anything. He should have been out there, been with her-but Cooper and Nathaniel were nothing short of terrified.

Just then, there was a loud pounding on the door. "Let me in!" Lila cried. Within seconds, he had the door open and she tumbled inside, crying so hard she was almost hiccupping.

"What is it?" he asked with a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Where is my sister?"

"She said she was going to go with him so I could get away, but they were wrestling for the gun-"

"Was she hurt?"

"I don't think so. I should have stayed there." She was practically hyperventilating. "I should have helped her."

"You did exactly what you were supposed to do. You're safe now." He stood up; enough was enough. "I'm going to find Wanda. No one leaves this room for anything. Do you understand?" Cooper and Lila nodded. "Good." With that, he made sure the door was shut securely and left.

The first agent was in Clint's office, going through a file cabinet. He turned as he heard Pietro coming, practically leering at him. "Just the man I was hoping to see."

"Get out of here before I kill you." And he could have done it, too. The anger was pumping hot and fast in his chest. These men had tried to hurt his sister and the kids in his care. They had pushed all the wrong buttons-and they had to suffer.

He pulled out a gun. "Then you're coming with me."

"Who do you serve?"

The man smiled at him. "Isn't it obvious? Hail HYDRA." He raised the gun at the same time Pietro felt a searing pain in his forearm. _Phantom pain. She got a broken wrist._ Right. Because that was the last thing they needed.

He attacked the agent with all the force he could muster. He didn't have time for a choreographed fight; he just needed this over as soon as he could. The man raised the gun as if to shoot it off but Pietro grabbed it out of his hand and threw it across the room. It broke into four pieces as it hit a wall, bullets rolling everywhere.

In seconds, Pietro managed to get him pinned. "Why are you here?" he asked coldly. "What do you want?"

"Just you and your sister."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

He punched him so hard the man's nose started to bleed. "Not good enough. If you don't tell me, SHIELD will drag it out of you."

"Let them try."

Another punch. "Tell me. Now."

"Research. You experienced Strucker's experiments firsthand. If anyone knows why they worked or what happened, it would be you two. Everyone else is dead, sadly."

"And this is why." He punched him once more and the man slumped to the floor, unconscious. Pietro bound his hands and feet as best he could with packing tape and some paper clips. "Mess with us again and you won't leave here alive."

 _One down, one to go._ He turned to head upstairs. _Hang on, Wanda. I'm coming._

~IT~

Wanda was quickly learning that having a broken wrist hurt-a lot. Not only that, but she couldn't control her powers as well on her injured side-which meant she had to compensate. Which meant she wasn't at the top of her game.

She managed to slam him into a wall with a flick of her good wrist. "You shouldn't have come tonight."

The agent leered at her. "You're more of a fight than I thought you would be. The rumors obviously underestimated you."

"They always do." she replied, throwing him back as he tried to get up. "Go back and tell them to leave us alone."

"They won't give up so easily. I'm just the first of many. And not just for you-for all the Avengers. You're wanted in crime circles all over the world."

"Occupational hazard."

He lunged forward, pushing her backward. She hit her head on the edge of the doorframe and pain laced through her head but she didn't take more than a second to focus up. She couldn't afford to take any more time. "It might take days, months, even years-but we will destroy you. We will tear apart your whole world-everything you've ever loved. One day we will break you-I can promise you that."

"Not likely." She slammed him into the wall again. How long could he hold out? Why wasn't he going unconscious yet?

Just then there was a blur of blue and Pietro slammed a fist into the man's jaw. The man swore, massaging his chin. The distraction provided them a moment to regroup and coordinate their attack. "Are you all right?" Pietro asked.

She was just happier than she could say to see him well and alive. "Broken wrist. Nothing major. I can still fight. How are the kids?"

"They're fine. Why didn't you tell me you were going to take on an agent singlehandedly? You know I can't miss a good beat down."

"You should be with the kids."

"Cooper can look after them. Our first priority is keeping them safe."

"Where's the other agent?"

"At the top of the staircase. He should be unconscious for a good four or five hours, but I figured we should keep an eye on him just in case." He surveyed her wrist in concern. "Let's finish this. I want someone to get that checked out."

"Pietro, I'm a big girl now."

"Yes, but it looks painful."

It was very painful, as a matter of fact.

Just then, the man struggled to his feet and practically leapt on top of Pietro. They tangled on the ground, fighting hand to hand. Pietro's last punch had managed to send the gun flying across the room but the man was still holding his own; hitting Pietro almost as much as Pietro was hitting him. Wanda tried to find an opening to work her magic, but they were too close together. She couldn't get a clear shot.

Suddenly the agent managed to pin Pietro. They both looked terrible; Pietro had a bloody nose while the man's looked broken and the carpet was stained with blood. Wanda tensed to shoot some magic; Pietro needed help.

Then he pulled out a switchblade, pressing it to her brother's throat.

Instantly the memories came flooding back, unbidden; Pietro lying on that bed, covered in his own blood…dead. It hit her with the force of a car and she was reacting before she even realized what was happening; the magic slammed into the agent and sent him flying across the hallway, where he crashed into the bathroom door and slid to the ground. There was a fresh cut across Pietro's neck but he looked otherwise unharmed as he sat up in confusion. "What-"

She was already moving to make sure the man was out cold. It didn't take long to realize something was very wrong-his eyes were open and glassy, blood pooled in the side of his mouth, and his chest was stained red. She checked for a pulse; there was nothing there. "I killed him."

"Are you sure?" Pietro asked, coming to stand next to her. He checked for a pulse once, twice…He went very still. "God."

"I did, didn't I? He's dead."

"Wanda, don't panic."

She'd just killed somebody. She'd just taken a life. The bile churned in her throat, forcing its way up her esophagus. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"It was self defense-"

"I killed somebody, Pietro." She glanced at the hallway and into Lila's room; there was so much blood. The corpse slumped against the bathroom sink like a broken rag doll. "Go let the kids up. Tell them everything's okay. But don't let them come upstairs."

"Why don't you-"

"I can't. They can't see me like this. Not when-" She ran up to the third floor, to her bedroom. Pietro ran upstairs as well but her door was already shut-and something told him this was not the time to play therapist.

"Wanda, come out."

No response.

He sighed and went downstairs to let the kids and cats out. Everyone was very, very quiet-and no one was tired. He put on one of the Star Wars movies for them to watch just to chase away the silence; everything was too quiet. Then he called Clint.

"Hey, kid. What's up?" the archer asked, sounding happy and relaxed. Pietro felt terrible about bursting his bubble.

"There was an attack." He didn't stop to let Clint ask questions. "There were two of them. We think they work for HYDRA…The kids are safe but the upstairs is covered in blood. I'm okay, but Wanda has a broken arm. And…she killed somebody, Clint. It was an accident, but…she killed somebody because she was saving my life."

There was an almost pregnant moment of silence as Clint processed all the information. Pietro waited to get yelled at or to be given instructions-anything would suffice. He didn't know what to do in a situation like this.

Instead, Clint said "We're on our way." and hung up. Pietro sighed and went into the bathroom to wash up.

He could already tell it was going to be a long night.

 **Review, follow, and favorite!**


	29. Not Like This

**Wow. 100 favorites and over 200 reviews. That's awesome, you guys! Thank you so, so much :) It means the world to me.**

 **Disclaimer: see Chapter 1**

 **Enjoy!**

According to Pietro's calculations, Clint and Laura must have been speeding the entire way back from town. They'd made a journey that should have taken them forty minutes in only twenty five.

"Daddy! Mommy!" Lila cried as soon as they came inside, rushing to hug Clint with Cooper close on her heels. Even Nate squirmed to be set down, though Pietro was holding him as firmly as he possibly could.

Clint hugged Cooper and Lila tightly, while Laura took Nate and rocked him a little bit to calm him down. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine." Cooper said. "Who were those people, Dad?"

The adults exchanged a look. "No one you need to worry about." Clint replied. "Did they take anything?"

Pietro shook his head. "One of them was looking through the file cabinets in your office, but I don't think he found what he was looking for."

Immediately, Laura began to check him over for wounds. "And what about you? Pietro, you're all cut up!"

He shrugged away from her careful touch. "It's nothing. Really." _I've been through worse._

Clint scanned the room again, carefully. "Where's your sister?"

"She's been upstairs since…it happened. She won't let me in…I thought I should give her some space." Honestly, he wasn't sure how to react. He'd seen her upset many times over the years-but tonight had been different. For once, she hadn't been upset at an outside party or a common enemy-she was angry at herself. Pietro wasn't sure what he could tell her that could possibly make things better. It had been self defense-they all knew that. She couldn't possibly be in any trouble with the police or anything-but of course, he knew that wasn't her problem.

She'd killed someone-someone who had friends, maybe a family; who had had a past and had been looking forward to a future. And now that was gone. All of it was gone.

Clint swore. "You said she broke her wrist? We're going to have to go to the hospital, get it checked it out…I'm going to see if she'll let me talk to her."

"What happened?" Cooper asked. "Did Wanda get hurt?"

"She broke her wrist." Pietro said. "But she's going to be fine." At least, he hoped that would be the case. "I'll come with you."

"Give me five minutes, kid." Clint said, petting Chocolate Chip absentmindedly as the cat twined herself around his legs. "I know what she's going through."

~IT~

At first, Wanda had been determined never to leave her room again.

For about ten minutes, she'd just sat in the middle of her bed trying not to think. Every time she tried to close her eyes and block out her thoughts it just came back to her in a rush-the blood on her hands, the sound of her wrist as it had cracked under the pressure of the HYDRA agent's hand, the way she'd lashed out and ended his life without meaning to. Then, when she'd realized that hadn't worked, she'd started to pack the rest of her things at an almost feverish pace-birthday presents, clothing, and knickknacks alike had been piled into the two suitcases the Bartons had given her to replace her old one, which was almost falling apart. It was too dangerous for her to stay here-not when she had the power to kill. What kind of role model would she be to Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel when she could barely even tolerate herself?

Just then, there was a knock on the door and she shoved the suitcases under the bed in one fluid motion. "What is it?" she asked, kicking the final corner out of sight.

Clint stepped inside. "Is it all right if I talk to you for a few minutes?"

She nodded. It wasn't like he would go away if she told him that no, it wasn't all right. He'd just persist until she finally let him talk just so he would stop annoying her.

His eyes flickered to her arm; she was holding it at an angle that was less than comfortable so it wouldn't jostle so much when she moved. "How's your arm?"

"It's been better."

"We should get it checked out by a doctor."

"No. It'll heal on its own."

"Wanda, I'm not about to argue this with you. We're going to go to the hospital as soon as we can. We don't need to tell anyone what happened; SHIELD agents are going to be here any minute to collect the prisoner." She could clearly hear what he wasn't saying: _And the body._

"How much do they know? Did you tell them…?"

He looked away. "I had to. I didn't want to, but…it's protocol in these sorts of situations. No one blames you-and you shouldn't blame yourself."

"But I _killed_ him-"

"Because he was holding a knife to your brother's throat. Your protective instincts kicked in, just like they were supposed to. You did what you had to do to keep your family safe-and in the end, that's what we all have to do. We have to protect the people we can't live without no matter what the cost."

For the first time she hated her powers. "I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for the power to kill. And I know I killed dozens of robots in Sokovia-"

"But that wasn't the same. They weren't sentient beings."

She sighed. "What if the man I killed had a family waiting for him to come home? What if I just did to them what Tony Stark did to me? I don't expect you to understand-"

"But I do. I understand perfectly. You think you're the only one who's killed accidentally. It happens to all of us at some point. At some point, all of us have to make the choice between saving a life and taking one. In this business, it's something you get used to."

"How do you get over it?"

"It takes time. I'm not going to lie; it's hard. But acceptance will come-"

"I didn't want this to happen. I thought I'd be able to do something…subdue him some other way…but things were happening so fast-"

"Had you not done what you did, your brother would have died. I'm not justifying your actions-I know you don't want me to-and I'm not trying to detract from the seriousness of taking a human life. But in this business…it happens. Sure, it's terrifying at first…but it'll get better. You just can't close yourself off. Don't shut yourself away from the people who want to help you."

"I can't be around Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel."

"Bullshit. You risked everything-including your very life-to keep my little girl safe. That makes you a hero in my book. You should be asking for a raise-"

She tried not to snap. "Would you stop seeing everything as a joke? This isn't funny. I don't know how much I can trust myself anymore. What if something like this were to happen again? I can't be trusted."

"These circumstances were extraordinary. Wanda, you're a very good person-but even good people can make mistakes in extraordinary circumstances. You kept your family safe-and you kept my kids safe. I just wanted to say thank you. I'm so glad you were there to help." He gently examined her arm and Wanda tried not to show that it was still sore. "We should get this looked at."

She sighed. "I guess so." She needed an excuse to talk to Pietro anyway. They had plans to make.

~IT~

By the time they got back from the hospital it was close to two in the morning and everyone was just exhausted. Wanda managed to get about three hours of restless sleep before she gave the whole thing up as a lost cause and went to find Pietro.

He looked so peaceful when he was asleep; you couldn't see the worry lines that had started to appear on his forehead and he didn't look like he was ready to bolt at any given moment. She almost felt bad for having to wake him up. "Pietro?"

He jumped awake like he'd been shocked and was on his feet in seconds. "What is it? Wanda, do you even know what time it is?"

"I know, I know-but I have to talk to you about something."

His expression clearly stated that he would rather eat nails than have to play therapist at five in the morning. "All right then. What did you have in mind?"

"I'm leaving tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"If I can't even trust myself, how can I let myself be trusted around the kids? We'll be going back in a couple days anyway…I'm just going to speed up the process."

"How are you planning to get there? Are you going to steal a car?"

"Of course not. I found an airport that has flights upstate. I just wanted to let you know…in case you want to come as well."

"Of course I do." He was rubbing sleep out of his eyes; Wanda wondered just how much he really knew what he was committing to. "You think I'm just going to let you go alone?"

"It might be safer that way."

He sighed. "Wanda, you can try and isolate yourself from anything and anybody except for me. I'm your brother. And if you think I'm going to leave you-ever-then you have another thing coming. Understand?"

She nodded, trying to ignore the relief she felt. Really, she hadn't wanted to do it all on her own. "The Bartons have done so much for us-but sooner or later all that we bring is trouble. It's…better for all involved parties that we leave before things get worse."

He hesitated for a moment as though debating whether or not he wanted to talk sense into her.

"They knew we were here. They attacked the house-went after their kids-because we were there. What if it happens again? What if, this time, we don't get to the bunker in time?" she replied.

"It's just a few more days-"

She shook her head. "No. I can't. If something like that happens again…I don't want to be a killer. And I don't know if I'd be able to control my actions, if worst came to worst." She kicked her suitcase, as if to emphasize her point.

"Fine. Do we have enough money for tickets?"

"We have those credit cards Tony gave us once we said we were going to be on the team permanently."

"He said those were only for emergencies."

"I think this qualifies as an emergency." She booted up the computer, waiting impatiently for the blue load screen to subside. "Let's go buy some airline tickets."

~IT~

Pietro was good at keeping secrets. He was good at telling lies. He'd learned how to say one thing but convince people that he meant another. He could keep his heart rate steady even under pressure.

That didn't mean he liked lying to the Bartons. That didn't mean he wanted to go about his day pretending that everything was normal.

"Let's play a video game." Cooper said just after breakfast, setting up the TV expertly.

"No." Laura said, washing up the waffle iron. "It's a beautiful day outside. You should all go get some fresh air."

Cooper and Lila both groaned. "Please? Just half an hour?" Lila asked.

Laura glanced at Wanda, who was sitting as far away from the rest of the family as possible. "I think it'll do everyone some good."

Eventually she got Pietro, Cooper, Lila, and Wanda outside and into the sunshine. Pietro could definitely tell it was fall; there was a nasty chill in the air. He noticed how Laura held his sister back for a moment, probably asking how she was holding up. Wanda muttered something-probably something vague-and Laura let her join the others, looking extremely dissatisfied.

"What did she ask?" Pietro whispered as they followed Cooper and Lila to the swimming pool. It was too cold to swim but that didn't mean it wasn't still a quiet place for them to hole up for the day.

She shrugged. "Just…how I'm doing."

"And what did you say?"

"Reasonably well, considering the circumstances." Another lie.

"Wanda, she wants to help."

"I don't need it. I just need to get out of here-and go somewhere where I can think about things."

"You just killed somebody. That would be hard on anyone-"

"I'm an Avenger. I'm supposed to know better."

"You've been an Avenger for one summer. You can make mistakes."

"I don't want to talk about it." She went to join Lila, who was inspecting the leaves changing colors on the nearby trees.

"I hate to tell you this, but sooner or later you're going to have to talk to somebody."

She didn't look back at him; it was impossible to know whether she'd heard him or not.

~IT~

Wanda thought they would have had more time.

Of course, that would have been too easy.

"Daddy, why are there red stains in the carpet upstairs?"

All the adults stiffened; she stopped stirring her chicken noodle soup abruptly. Clint and Laura exchanged a look and Pietro kept his eyes firmly fixed on the neat white tablecloth.

"What do you mean, sweetheart?" Clint asked carefully, taking another piece of bread from the center of the table.

"There are red stains outside the bedroom door. What are they from?" Cooper looked curious now too.

"It's just a stain." Laura replied. "It happens sometimes."

"Not if there's nothing to stain it." His voice dropped about three octaves. "Something happened last night, didn't it?"

"What do you mean? Everything's fine, Cooper."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not buying it. You guys are all acting too secretive. What happened?"

"Nothing." Clint said quickly-too quickly. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

"Why won't you tell me what's going on?" Cooper's voice was quickly rising as he got more and more upset. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Cooper, it's fine. It's all going to be just fine."

"I just want to know. I'm not too young."

"It's not that-"

"Then what is it?" The little boy was practically screaming by now. "Dad, tell me what's going on! Why does no one ever tell me anything? During Sokovia, when you almost _died-_ you said nothing happened. But I know what happened. I know you were in trouble-and you didn't tell me about it. You almost didn't come back! You almost left us alone. You almost left me alone. And you didn't tell me! I hate it whei9n you lie to me! I hate it when you keep secrets. That's all you've been doing, every day of my entire life. You've kept me a secret to everyone outside our immediate family. I have to be careful what to say to kids at school, to people I meet on the street…do you think this is easy for me? Do you think I like having to live my life pretending I'm normal? Do you know how many times I want to tell my classmates that my dad is an Avenger? But I don't-because that's what you told me to do. I do whatever you tell me to do. I just don't want you to lie to me-and that's what you're doing right now. You're lying. You're lying and you're expecting me to not realize it. But those men came into our house yesterday and they tried to kill us. I think we all deserve an explanation."

The kitchen was silent. No one seemed to know what to say; even Cooper looked shocked at his outburst.

Laura looked like she was going to say something-but Wanda spoke before she could. "The red stains are from blood-the blood of a man that I killed."

The reaction was instantaneous: both Cooper and Lila turned to look at her. There was something in their eyes she'd never seen there before-at least, not when they looked at her.

Confusion-and even fear.

Before she quite knew what she was doing, she was standing up and pushing in her chair. "I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry." She had to leave; the room seemed to press down on her uncomfortably. She could barely breathe, much less think. "Thank you for everything. I'm sorry about last night. I'm sorry for bringing you trouble you definitely didn't need." Then she left; if Pietro was telling the truth her bags were already in the car; all they had to do was turn the key in the ignition.

Clint was trying to say something and Laura was trying to tell her not to go but she didn't look back once. If she did, she worried she wouldn't be able to go through with the plan-but she had to. The Bartons had given her so much more than she had ever asked for-more than she had even imagined she could ever want. They'd made her realize how much she had been missing-and how normal she really was under all her powers.

Now she had to do something for them.

The car was waiting in the driveway, just where Pietro said it would be. She climbed into the driver's seat and set the GPS to take them to the airport, waiting impatiently for Pietro to join her. After a few seconds he slid inside the passenger seat; Wanda started driving as soon as he slammed the door.

"Clint tried to stop me." he said. "He thinks there's a better way than this-but I can't see any."

"It's for the best." she replied. She didn't want to leave on these terms either-she hated unfinished business-but it was the only thing they could do. It was their responsibility as Avengers to keep people safe. And this was the only way they could accomplish that goal.

She floored the accelerator; the car shuddered from the initial velocity before it zoomed away into the night.

~IT~

 _Damn it._ Clint pulled out his computer, waiting for it to load. "Shit." He knew it had been a good idea to have that tracking device installed in the car a couple of years ago-although he'd never suspected he'd have to use it to track down two super powered twins.

"Where are they going?" Laura asked, looking over his shoulder at the tiny red dot making its way across the darkened screen.

Lila looked about ready to cry. "Mommy, what happened?"

"I don't know yet, sweetheart. Daddy's trying to figure it out." He admired how calm she sounded, like this was something that happened every night. He certainly wasn't calm. In fact, he was pretty much the exact opposite. He should have done more. He should have seen that something wasn't right. He knew what Wanda was like-he should have known that she wasn't rebounding as well as he would have liked. They'd been so close…almost there…and then HYDRA had ruined it all again. They'd destroyed everything; everything he'd tried so hard to accomplish. All summer he'd had to fight hard for every inch of ground he'd taken with the twins-every secret they'd given him, every smile he'd managed to tease out of them…and now everything was gone. He was back to square one, back to dealing with two kids who didn't trust anyone except each other.

"Shit." He massaged his temples, trying to find something-anything-that would clue him into their destination.

"I'm sorry." Cooper said. "I shouldn't have said that-"

"No, you're right. We need to talk about these things and we don't. I'm sorry. This is my fault. Not yours." He managed to hug his son with one arm. If it wasn't for him this wouldn't be a problem. "I'm so sorry."

"Why did they leave?"

"I think Wanda thinks you hate her. You have to understand that she didn't want to kill that person. She did it to protect you, Lila, Nathaniel, and Pietro and…I think that you confirmed her worst fears. I think they left because they felt their presence put us in danger."

"We don't hate her. She did what she had to do, we all know that. We know she would never murder someone intentionally-"

"Tell her to come back, Daddy!" Lila cried.

"That's what I'm trying to do." He looked at the schematic again-and then realized the dot was heading into the city…

Towards LaGuardia airport.

He stood up and headed to the door. "I'm going to the airport. With any luck I'll be back in about two hours-with the twins."

They couldn't leave thinking they were hated. They couldn't leave like this.

Unfortunately, he was running out of time.

~IT~

They ditched the car a few blocks from the airport. Pietro trusted Clint would be able to pick up the car eventually; they even paid the parking rent for four days to give him a head start.

"We're late." Wanda said, checking her phone. "We'll be lucky if we get on the plane at this point."

"Don't worry about that. Just go." His phone was vibrating every five minutes; he had six messages from Clint, three from Laura, and one each from Natasha and Steve. Clint obviously worked fast.

The airport was crowded like always as they went to their kiosk; they passed families heading back from vacations and international travelers staggering out to the waiting taxis looking like zombies due to the time change. His fingers drummed a nervous tattoo on the side of his leg; he didn't like this, not at all. But the whole experience had made him wonder; if it came down to putting a bullet in someone's head or losing his sister, he knew the decision he would make. He would kill; intentionally or not.

He didn't mind getting out of town.

"Two tickets for flight 422 upstate?" the overly peppy clerk behind the desk asked them, fingers flying over the keyboard as she searched up their reservations.

"Yes. They should be under Witten." Pietro said, sliding his ID across the counter. "Pietro and Wanda."

The girl smiled. "Ah yes. Here they are." She printed out their boarding passes and took the handful of wadded up bills Pietro pressed into her hand. "You're all good. Security is down the stairwell to the right."

~IT~

"Have you been able to get a read on them yet?"

"Still driving." He was flooring the accelerator and still Clint worried he would be too late.

"You'll get there in time." Natasha said, almost as if she could read his mind. He hadn't meant to call her-but he'd ended up calling anyway. The car was too quiet; he needed another voice to distract him from his thoughts. "Don't hit a deer or anything."

"Nat, that was one time-"

"Its brains scattered all over the highway-"

"Gross. Why are you bringing that up?"

She sighed. "Because I know you're blaming yourself for the whole thing."

"It's my fault. I have a right to."

"No you don't. Of course it isn't your fault. How can it possibly be your fault? Did you invite the HYDRA agents over for tea? Of course not."

"I shouldn't have left them alone." He'd thought they'd be safe; he thought he and Tony had accounted for every eventuality the last time they checked the house's security measures. Obviously, they'd missed something.

"There's nothing you can do about what happened. We all know how that first kill feels; she just needs time and some therapy. We can take care of that at the base."

"I know-but I want them to leave when you come to pick them up, not because they think they've lost our trust."

"I know. You'll find them-and you'll be able to talk some sense into them."

He sighed, reluctant to bring up what else was on his mind. "Nat?"

"What is it?"

"There's something else that's been bothering me."

"And what might that be?"

He tried to find the right words. "What if I manage to get to them before they get on the plane but they don't listen? What if they just leave anyway?"

For a few minutes she didn't say anything and he started to wonder if she'd hung up without telling him. "Nat?"

"I'm still here."

"Why haven't you said anything yet?"

"I'm thinking."

"That's never a good sign. How bad is it?"

"No, it's not like that." She sighed. "Okay. I've only been down a couple of times this summer-but I've seen how you interact with those kids. I've seen the way they look up to you-whether you see that or not. I know they genuinely care about you and your family. They act like you're the father they haven't had in far too long. You don't need to worry about them not listening to you. They already do that anyway. Just tell them what you want them to know. They'll hear it. And if they still want to get on that plane…you can't stop them. But I think the chances are a lot higher that they'll come with you-because I think as much as they pretend to the contrary, they really don't want things to end like this either."

He nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see him over the phone. "Thanks, Nat."

"Anytime. Now go stop that plane."

~IT~

"We barely even said goodbye."

"Now you're having second thoughts?" Wanda didn't have time for this. Airport security was hard enough without having to worry about your brother sabotaging everything you were trying to accomplish.

"It's not that. I just think we took things too hastily."

"Lila and Cooper were scared of me."

"Because you just said you killed somebody."

"No." She said it too loudly; half the people waiting in line for screening looked at her. "There was something….different. They looked like they didn't trust me…I don't want to see that look in anyone's eyes ever again. I thought we moved past that. Besides, what if HYDRA comes back? At least we'll be somewhere else. You know I don't want to leave either-"

She felt him put an arm around her shoulders and pull her close. "I know, Wanda. If this is going to make things better…You know I trust you. If this is what you want to do…" He placed his carryon on the conveyor belt with a thump. "I'm not going stop you."

~IT~

Clint practically sprinted into the departures terminal and made a beeline straight for security.

"Sir, you can't go past this point without a ticket-" a guard said at the security checkpoint-at least until he waved his Avengers card impatiently.

"Important Avengers business." he replied. He was able to move past unimpeded. _So Tony was right. The damn card is good for something after all._

Of course, then he saw just how full security was at seven o'clock on a Friday night-and the line that stretched around the room. He groaned inwardly as he checked his watch. He had his work cut out for him.

 _Let's see if I can find them before they get on that plane._

~IT~

"This is the final call for flight 422, with service to Syracuse. Repeat: this is the final call for flight 422. All passengers are required to be in their seats at this time-"

Pietro reached the desk just as the flight attendant stopped speaking, practically forcing her to take their boarding passes. "We're here."

She nodded, clicking them through. "Everything looks in order. You're welcome to take your seats."

He waited for Wanda to follow him onto the jetway before he started to walk down to the plane-until she tugged gently on his wrist to get him to turn around. "What is it?" he asked impatiently. "Wanda, we have to find our seats-"

"I know. I just…felt like we needed to give this town a proper goodbye-or at least a moment of silence. After all…it was the closest to having a home we've gotten in a long time."

He nodded. She had a point there. They stood there for a moment, glancing out a nearby window at the darkened runway. Somewhere, not too far away, the Bartons were probably finishing dinner, maybe going to watch a movie…it wasn't a school night, so Cooper and Lila would be clamoring to do something fun…

If he'd been there he would have suggested they watch _Star Wars._ Then again, that was just him.

The flight attendant brushed past them on her way to the plane, looking confused as to why they were still standing at the entrance to the jetway. "Is there a problem?"

"No. We're leaving now." He started to head down the ramp, making sure Wanda was following. He'd managed to pull a book out of his bag for the ride over; hopefully that would do something to drown out the roar of his thoughts-

"Wait!"

Automatically, he spun around. Clint was standing in the center of the waiting area, holding his Avengers card. "What are you doing here?" Pietro asked. He hadn't been expecting this; he would have thought Clint would be happy to see him go so he could have his archery range to himself again.

"I could ask you the same question."

"We're leaving." Wanda said. "I'm sorry we brought you so much trouble-"

He actually laughed. "You think that's what this is about? You make a mistake and you get kicked out? Because that's not how it works at all. That's not how family works."

That word again. She hated it; she felt like she didn't deserve to be part of such a nice family. "I should have left after the attack. I don't know why I didn't-"

"The kids don't hate you. They know why you did what you had to do. They want you to come home. They don't want you to leave without saying proper goodbyes."

"You've done so much for us." Pietro replied. "We wouldn't want to force you to do more for us than you already have."

"You think this summer has just been for laughs? We like having you two around. It's our pleasure to fix things when you mess up-or vice versa. You know, this is my fault. I should have done more. I shouldn't have made you feel like you're responsible for the behavior of psychos-because you're not. Psychos are psychos. You don't have to leave. Just come back; spend a couple more days relaxing. We'd love to have you. Believe me, I wouldn't have driven all the way out here if I wasn't committed to taking you two back with me."

"Then you're insane."

"Maybe. But family does weird things for each other. So, what do you say? Will you come back?"

Pietro glanced to his sister. "Your decision." It had been her decision to leave in the first place; he would go wherever she went.

"Clint, I appreciate the sentiment and everything you've done to make Pietro and I feel welcome…but I can't trust myself around the kids. After what happened…I think it's best if I just take some alone time."

"Trust me-that's the last thing you need. The kids want to see you-and you think just because you accidentally killed somebody means you're a terrible person? Because that's bull shit. Everyone makes mistakes-you, me, everyone. And we all deserve second chances-and even third or fourth chances. I've done worse than that and you seem to think I'm some kind of saint. But I'm not. I'm human. So are you. Humans make mistakes. It's what we do. We mess things up-sometimes, we mess things up really, really bad. But we're there for each other-and I want you to know that I'm here for you. I know things are confusing right now but this doesn't make you a bad person. You don't owe anything to anybody or have anything to prove. Understand? It's okay. You can let it go. You don't need to let the fear control you. Just…let it go. It doesn't have to weigh down on you. Trust me. There are other options-lots of better options."

"He brings up some good points." Pietro said quietly, shifting from foot to foot as he watched his sister carefully to gauge a reaction.

For a minute she looked like she was going to refuse-in fact, she almost looked ready to take that next step down the jetway. And then something seemed to come over her-something that looked suspiciously like peace. She even managed a smile-a small one to be sure, but a smile just the same. "So you drove all the way out here just for us?"

"Like I said-family does weird stuff."

"I guess we wouldn't want you to waste all that gas mileage for nothing…"

Just then the flight attendant cut in to say "Are you going on the plane or not? We can't wait forever."

"You've been very helpful…but I don't think we're going to Syracuse tonight." Pietro said, walking back to the waiting area with Wanda close on his heels.

Clint grinned broadly the entire way to the car. "Come on, kids." he said; for once Pietro didn't protest that they were technically legal adults. "Let's go home."

 **Sorry about the obscenely long chapter. The words just kind of got away from me; you know how it is.**

 **Review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for reading!**


	30. Departure

**Hi guys!**

 **As you can see, we've finally come to the end of our humble tale. But before I start the final chapter, I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read, favorite, follow, and review this story. They mean the world to me and I'm so glad you enjoyed the ride :) I'd like to give a special shout out to my reviewers who have been with me from the very beginning: Avalain Nightshade, Niom Lamboise, and Shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod. You guys are amazing!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

 **And without further ado, the final chapter of It's Temporary!**

The one thing Pietro wouldn't miss about the farm was going to be the birdsong at five in the morning that woke him up and wouldn't let him go back to sleep.

As was customary he groaned and rolled over, trying unsuccessfully to stifle the noise with his pillows. There was a family of Carolina wrens somewhere outside his window; he heard them calling out to each other every morning at around five thirty. He was going to have to look for them later when he was outside with Cooper and Lila-they'd be all over something like that.

Then he remembered he wouldn't have time. Steve and Natasha were going to come in the Quinjet at around ten thirty to take the twins to the new base.

In the bleary morning light working its way under the window shade he glanced at his suitcase and duffel bag, both just waiting to be thrown in the cargo hold of the plane. They'd had no end of hassle getting the twins' things back from the plane-by the time they decided they weren't going to go it was too late to pull the bags off the plane and they'd had to pay extra to fly the luggage back. But eventually it had all worked out, all their things were in order, and they were ready to go.

Mostly.

That wasn't to say he wasn't going to miss the way Laura made pancakes in the morning with chocolate chips and whipped cream. He was going to miss having tea parties with Lila, even when she made him wear one of the little plastic tiaras she was so fond of collecting. He was going to miss watching TV with Nathaniel because Nathaniel didn't complain about how he was getting sick of the Grey's Anatomy opening sequence. He was going to miss finding creative excuses not to tell Cooper how to hotwire a car. He was even going to miss Clint's driving lessons even though the archer wasn't a very patient teacher-he was always telling Pietro he was going too fast and he was going to flip the car over if he wasn't careful. He was also going to miss the farm-he was going to miss the tree house where the kids did their homework, the swimming hole where they'd spent most of the summer, even the barn where he absolutely could not go because he got allergies.

Just then something small and furry jumped up onto his bed and sat down on his chest, proceeding to lick his face like a dog.

Yes, he was going to miss the cats too.

"You're up early." he whispered, rubbing her back so she purred loudly. "Then again, I suppose you're not the only one." He pet Chocolate Chip almost absentmindedly as he debated whether or not to get up. Chances were good that Wanda was up as well-she was usually an early riser; she always had been and likely always would be. However, there was always the off chance that she was still sleeping and he didn't want to wake her up before she was ready to get up.

"I wonder if the gifts came." he wondered out loud, glancing out his window and up at the ledge outside his sister's room. Vision had said he would fly everything down as soon as he could; they were running out of the time. As it was, they were really pushing things down to the wire.

Sure enough, there were five packages stacked on the edge of the windowsill, meticulously wrapped. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as he watched the curtain for any sign of movement.

As it turned out, the first person up wasn't his sister.

If he strained his ears, he could just barely hear a soft whimpering noise from somewhere in the house-which on closer inspection appeared to be Nathaniel. He was having more and more trouble sleeping in these days but usually Laura was up to put him back to bed. However as the minutes ticked by and he didn't hear anything Pietro was forced to conclude that she was getting some much needed rest.

Which meant it was up to him.

Carefully he got up and walked into the nursery. Nathaniel lay awake and looked up at him curiously as Pietro reached inside the cradle and picked the baby up gently, just the way Laura had taught him to. "Shh…" he whispered. "It's too early to cry." He held the baby as gently as he could, like Nathaniel was a china statue and liable to break at any time. "Hmm…" he muttered, looking around the house. "What should we do? It's a little bit early to watch TV and you don't really like tea parties…" Just then he realized what time it was-almost six o'clock. The sky outside was turning pale purple, which meant it had to be close to dawn.

"You know what, Nate?" Pietro asked as he carefully pulled on his shoes. "I hear they don't have sunrises like this by the Avengers base."

They waited outside for a long time; it wasn't too cold and the grass wasn't too wet from dew. Nathaniel watched the sky with just as much interest as Pietro as the sun rose and spread its golden rays across the peaceful acres and acres of farmland stretching away to the horizon. As far as secret hideouts went it wasn't bad by any means-the farm was nearly impossible to find unless you were looking for it, tucked away into the hills and fields of rolling countryside.

Even though he was a city kid born and bred, barely ever seeing open fields except for the few times he'd travelled out of Sokovia's main city just to have an excuse to skip school, it reminded him of home. It was peaceful and isolated from the rest of the world-everyone's petty problems and wars seemed very, very far away.

Just then there was the sliding sound of a window opening somewhere above his head. "What on Earth are you doing?" Wanda asked, glancing down at him as she collected Vision's packages.

"Watching the sun rise. In case you haven't noticed, it's a beautiful morning."

"You got bored, didn't you?"

"Just a little bit. Come on-we have things to wrap." They retreated to Wanda's room, the most private part of the house, where Pietro placed Nathaniel in the center of the bed so the twins could watch him as they worked.

"Are you excited to go back?" he asked as he grabbed a piece of tape from the dispenser by the side of the bed.

"I suppose. It should be interesting, if nothing else. But I'll miss it here."

 _You're not the only one._ "The Avengers can teach us how to get a better handle on our powers."

"That's one good thing at least. And Clint said we can come back any time we want." That was a comfort at least.

It was strange-when Pietro had first come here so many months ago he hadn't expected he would fit in-at all. He'd never even imagined a place so…idyllic could ever feel like a second home to him.

He'd never thought he would regret leaving.

But they weren't done yet-he still had one more thing he wanted to finish up.

~IT~

Laura made pancakes effortlessly; by now she knew exactly how the twins would like them cooked. Pietro would have more than one, the more chocolate chips the better, while Wanda preferred whipped cream. Their seats at the breakfast table were suspiciously empty. "They're plotting something, Clint."

"Don't use the word plotting. It makes them sound like they're members of the mafia or something." He took a sip of coffee and also glanced at their empty chairs. "But I agree. They're definitely planning something."

"Do I want to know what it is?"

"Probably not. Everyone gets to have their secrets."

"The house is going to be quiet without them. Cooper and Lila are going to have to worry about making it to the bus stop on time because Pietro won't be there to run them over if they cut it too close."

"And we'll be stuck reading all those Pegasus books to Lila."

"Who knows? Maybe one day we'll turn on the television and see them fighting the next alien invasion-heroes in their own rights."

Clint had no doubt that would happen. "So, do you think we did the right thing by bringing them to stay here? I mean, we took them out of commission for quite a while-Nat is going to have my head because they haven't been on a harsh training regimen for the past three months."

"We gave them an opportunity to be normal-and I think they responded very well." Laura said.

"Yeah. You almost can't tell they were part of illegal human experimentation and spent the last few years in cells."

She grabbed a picture off the shelf above the kitchen sink-a picture of Cooper, Lila, Nathaniel, and the twins all sitting on the front porch swing on the fourth of July holding cool glasses of lemonade. "They're going to go far, Clint. I just hope we were able to do enough."

"I know we did. And besides, they weren't the only ones who learned something this summer."

"You told them they're welcome to come back whenever they'd like to, right?"

"Several times." He hoped they would; there was only so much Princess Rainbow Unicorn he could take at one time. "Now, don't you think we should tell them breakfast is ready? You know how Pietro gets when he doesn't get enough to eat in the mornings." Namely, he would ask for lunch five minutes after all the breakfast dishes had been put away.

Laura laughed. "I guess so." She crossed the room to the stairwell while Clint examined the picture at arms-length. They looked so happy and carefree, like the Battle of Sokovia and all that entailed had never even happened. Of course, the ultimate goal would be for them to look that happy all of the time but that simply wasn't realistic. Not only would it be impossible for them to put aside everything they'd experienced over the course of their less than stellar childhood but they'd doubtless see more than their fair share of crap as full-fledged Avengers-it was unfair, but that was just the way life worked. But if he'd been able to make them smile a little more often and feel like their purpose in life was more than just weapons he'd done what he'd set out to do. And he was sure he'd made progress, if not more than that.

 _Good job, Barton. I'm proud of you. You've finally done something right._

~IT~

Breakfast was hectic, like always. You'd think that after micromanaging every detail of this morning a thousand times over the past few days things would go off without a hitch.

Except of course that wasn't how things worked.

First they ran out of syrup and Laura realized she'd forgotten to add that to the grocery list. Then Pietro used the last of the creamer before Wanda got any for her coffee so she had to drink it black-which was a sure fire way to ruin her day. Finally, just when everyone was done eating and Clint thought they were in the clear, Cooper made Nathaniel laugh so hard he accidentally spit baby food all over Wanda's new t-shirt in an episode that was eerily similar to the twins' first morning on the farm.

"Not a problem." Wanda said before anyone could apologize; Snowflake was already jumping into her lap and trying to lick her shirt clean. "There's plenty more where that came from."

"Can we race one last time?" Cooper asked, looking at Pietro almost pleadingly. "I've been practicing really, really hard."

Pietro laughed. "So you still haven't given up?"

"Never."

"I would never turn away a good challenge." He took a last bite of his pancake and got up to put on his tennis shoes. Clint didn't miss the look that passed between the twins as he went to the mudroom to grab his jacket. Something was up-but it didn't seem like anyone was in immediate danger, so he was just fine with letting them keep their secrets.

He knew that if anything really serious was going on, they would tell him. He trusted them.

And in the meantime, he had a race to referee.

~IT~

"You don't want to eat baby food. It's disgusting, Snowflake."

The cat looked up at her with eyes the size of saucers and Wanda rolled her eyes, laughing as she tossed her dirty shirt in the plastic bag Laura had given her and stuffed it in the bottom of her suitcase, pulling on a new one as she did so.

"You know, Snowflake is going to be very lonely without you." Laura said, handing Wanda a handful of bills. "We didn't think you'd accept much, but here's a little to get you started in case Natasha ever takes you shopping at a store that doesn't sell military grade weapons."

"You really shouldn't have-"

"But we wanted to. No need to pay us back. Just use it to buy something special-okay?"

Wanda wanted to protest-after all, they already owed the Bartons more than they could ever pay back-but she knew Laura wouldn't accept a return. "If you're sure-"

"Positive. And you know…a cat might freshen up the new base…"

She laughed and picked up Snowflake as gently as she possibly could, holding still so the kitten could lick her face. "I love Snowflake, but so do Cooper and Lila. Besides, Chocolate Chip would be lonely and the base is probably no place for a kitten that small. Someone could probably step on her if they weren't careful." When it came to life or death missions, there were certainly times when people might not be careful. "But take good care of her though-and send pictures."

"All the time. So, do you have everything?"

Wanda glanced around the room, which was just as bare as the day she'd arrived. "Yes. I think so."

"What about this?" Laura handed her the picture she'd pointed out on the day of their arrival. "It's yours."

"I'll add it to the bag." Wanda zipped it carefully into her duffel bag; that was going right onto her nightstand as soon as they were able to unpack.

"Call if you need anything at all. You have both of our numbers and the house phone-we'll be around. It doesn't matter what it is-material things or just advice. We're not going anywhere."

She knew that. She was quickly learning that the farm was a constant place-it didn't change, no matter what was going on. It was timeless, now and always. "I know. I think we're going to have our hands full making the adjustment to being full time Avengers."

"But you'll still make time to call." It wasn't a question.

"Of course. Every week." And that was a promise. "Thanks for…everything. Not just the material things, but…for all the advice too."

"Sure. Everyone needs help sometimes, you know-even the super powered twins who can more than take care of themselves-and have proved that time and time again."

"Pietro and I got some things…they aren't much, but we had to say thank you somehow." She headed downstairs, managing to hold onto all her bags at once. Pietro was running things out to the front lawn so they'd be ready when the plane came-the grass was quickly filling up with suitcases, bags, and boxes of coffee that Laura insisted they take with them to the new base in case they ran out. "Are you ready?"

He nodded and zipped out to the tree house where they'd been storing their presents for the past couple of hours, returning five minutes later with carefully wrapped packages.

"Is one of those for me?" Lila asked, rushing up to him with Princess Rainbow Unicorn clutched tightly in her hands.

"As a matter of fact, yes it is." He handed her a box that, when opened, revealed itself to be a stuffed Pegasus. "So Princess Rainbow Unicorn won't be lonely while you're at school."

Lila hugged him tightly. "Thank you! I can already tell they're going to be great friends!"

"Do you know what you're going to name her yet?" Clint asked almost jokingly.

Of course, Lila answered in a dead serious tone. "Princess Sparkle Pegasus."

Cooper hung back by the car, as if he was almost afraid to ask if there was something in that pile for him. Pietro tossed him three new baseballs, as he was constantly losing them in the forest when he practiced catching. "Try not to lose these. They were quite expensive."

Cooper's face practically glowed. "Thanks."

"Anytime. Now for Nate…" He pulled out a teddy bear. "He's still a little young yet, but we read online that almost all American children have teddy bears."

Laura laughed. "I'm sure he'll love it."

"It wasn't as easy to shop for you." Wanda told Laura, handing her a small box wrapped in yellow paper. "I hope these are all right." Laura's gift turned out to be a box of different kinds of scented soaps, the kind Laura seemed to collect voraciously.

Laura laughed as she shook the box free of the last remains of wrapping paper. "How did you know I needed more?"

"Intuition. No mental manipulation involved. I promise. And don't say we didn't need to-because obviously we needed to repay you somehow. We paid for everything ourselves."

That left Clint the only one who hadn't gotten some kind of gift; Pietro handed him the final package. Inside was a book he'd been wanting to read, a framed picture of the team about three weeks after the Battle of Sokovia on the day Pietro was released from "official SHIELD examination" (which basically meant he was carefully monitored to make sure he wasn't some sort of demon conjured from beyond the grave), and a gift card to Starbucks. "This way you can get some very good coffee and you won't have to worry about someone drinking all of it before you get up." That had become a very big problem over the course of the summer."

Clint examined the picture carefully. "Thanks, kid. You know, I guess it will be nice having the coffee machine all to myself."

Pietro just hoped the new Avengers base would have decent coffee. He didn't know how he'd be able to function otherwise.

"Do we have time to take a walk?" Lila asked curiously, looking up at Clint with the puppy eyes that meant she really, really wanted something and she wanted it as soon as possible.

"Sorry, sweetheart. Nat and Steve are going to be here any second."

Almost as if in answer to his words, the Quinjet landed at the landing pad out back and two small figures disembarked and began to make their way over to the house.

"All right then." Clint said briskly. "You two got everything? Suitcases, coffee, jewelry, random things lying around the house that aren't ours?"

Wanda nodded. "And if you find something we forgot, you know where to send it."

Just then Steve and Natasha reached the small group. "Something tells me we should have brought a bigger quinjet." Natasha said, eyeing the pile of luggage critically.

"I took them shopping." Laura replied. "They should be all set until at least next spring."

"I think they'll be all set for the next five years. But thanks-now we can spend more time on the actual training part of being on the team."

"You're not going to work them too hard, are you?" Clint asked, grabbing Pietro's suitcase and practically throwing it into the back of the jet.

"They'll never improve if I don't." Natasha looked the twins over critically. "You both look better. Less…homeless."

"We didn't look homeless." Pietro scoffed.

"Don't worry. Everyone in Sokovia looked homeless."

Clint rolled his eyes. "I can already tell the two of you are going to get along perfectly."

Everyone began to migrate back to the quinjet. While the twins and Laura talked with Steve and Lila and Cooper hurried to help carry things, Natasha and Clint hung back to bring up the rear. "What did I tell you?" Natasha asked. "They came back, didn't they?"

"I never said they wouldn't."

"That's not what you sounded like. So, do you think they're going to fit well with the initiative? Are they going to fit in?"

"Yes. It's definitely going to take them some time to get used to everything and Pietro needs at least two cups of coffee in the morning or he's completely off for the rest of the day. Wanda likes to read and she burns through books fast so you'll need to get her a library card as soon as possible. They're ready for their driver's test but they need more time in the car with a licensed adult-which I hope for their sake isn't you. They both have rudimentary skill with a bow and arrow. Pietro tends to get cocky and try to do things just to show off-which doesn't always go well, so you'll have to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Wanda is a little more serious and is an extremely hard worker-but you'll need to encourage her to take some time off here and there. If she uses her powers too much she'll likely get a nosebleed; she knows what to do about those-"

"Okay, okay. Slow down. I'm sure we'll manage." Natasha replied.

"But they're great kids, Nat. I know what they seemed like at first, but you just need to get to know them. Be willing to listen-they'll be great additions to the team."

"I don't doubt that."

"Any word from Bruce yet?"

She glanced down at the dirt path in front of them. "No. He was last seen somewhere around Fiji. We don't know where he is."

"He'll turn up."

"He'd better. You know, you can still come with us if you want. We can always use an extra person on the team."

Clint couldn't say he wasn't tempted, just for a second. Being an Avenger had been amazing-sure, it had been crazy and dangerous and nearly gotten him killed more times than he could count-but it had been amazing knowing that he could actively make a difference in society.

And then he looked at his wife and children and thought about how much time he had already missed out on. "I wish I could Nat, I really do. But…family comes first."

"Yeah. I get it. But you'll stop by sometimes, won't you?"

"Of course. Have to check up on the twins sometimes, don't I?"

"Thanks for doing that, by the way. They seem a lot different-a lot more relaxed. Whatever you did…it's working."

"The twins did the real work. Sure, I got them some nice things and showed them that the world isn't generally a cruel place-but they're the ones who made the decisions themselves. They're the ones who were there for us time and time again to watch the kids-or Monday night football-or help out around the farm. They chose to be a part of the family. All we did was accept them, flaws and all."

"And that's what the Avengers are all about. They're certainly not the first misfits we've taken in. They'll be in good hands, Clint."

"I know. Believe me, I know."

~IT~

All too soon, everything was safely packed away and it was time to head out.

"We should probably check in with the others." Steve said, walking towards the cockpit of the plane. "Nat, do you want to help?"

"Sure." Natasha said, taking her cure flawlessly. "Wouldn't want you to misdial."

"That only happened once…." Their banter got softer and softer as they got farther and farther away from the plane's doorway, where Lila hugged first Pietro and then Wanda as tightly as she possibly could.

"Come back soon." she said. "The kitties miss you both already."

"We'll come as soon as we can." Wanda replied. "Keep trying hard in school, all right?"

"I always do."

"Send us postcards from all the cool places you go." Cooper said almost jealously. "You're lucky. I've never even been out of the country."

Pietro laughed. "You're not missing much. Sure, it's a different landscape but you still run into the same traffic."

"Good point. Thanks for the baseballs."

"I'm glad you like them."

"Can you Skype tonight? I want to know how the first day went."

"Sure. That definitely sounds doable."

"I mean it." Laura said for the thousandth time. "If you've ever got a free weekend-"

"As long as you bring your own coffee." Clint cut in.

"Obviously." Pietro replied.

Nathaniel was starting to whimper and Laura sighed loudly. "I should go put him down for his nap. Clint, tell Steve and Nat I said hello."

"Of course." he said. She gave the twins both a wave and a final goodbye and headed back to the house. Lila and Cooper followed her; the twins and Clint watched them leave until they were just little dots as they went into the house.

"So," Clint continued. "How's it going? First day as real Avengers-that has to be exciting."

"It's all happening very fast." Wanda replied. "But yes, it's definitely exciting.

"I know these people-and I know they're going to do everything in their power to make sure the adjustment goes smoothly. But in case you ever need anything or just found a really hilarious meme that I haven't seen yet, you have my cell number."

"What is a meme?" Pietro asked.

"Ask Rhodey. He knows." He was starting to run out of things to say. "I hope this all wasn't just a big waste of your time."

"Of course it wasn't. Being on the farm…it was like things were different. Even though that's impossible. Thank you so much for inviting us."

"My pleasure. Seemed like we owed you a lot; what better way to return the favor? Now, you're going to be excellent superheroes. You're going to make us all proud and you're coming over for Thanksgivings-right?"

"Right. We wouldn't miss it."

Just then Nat came back to grab a pile of supplies from a dashboard on the side of the plane. "Wheels up in five." she said simply, heading back to the cockpit.

Clint nodded, knowing he had to wrap it up. "And I'd also prefer it if you two don't get hurt. Don't do anything stupid."

"I'll make sure he doesn't." Wanda said with a glance at Pietro.

"I never do anything reckless." Pietro protested.

"Except for the time you stole those Beats simply because you wanted to."

"They were lying _right there-"_

"Or the time you stole the tree topper off that Christmas tree."

"We gave it to the orphanage-"

"Yes, but you still got caught. Your face was on television for a week and they sent a firing squad after us."

"Okay fine. That was reckless."

"We'll be fine. Nothing stupid."

"Good." He cleared his throat, knowing Nat would be wondering what on Earth was taking him so long. "Take care of yourselves-and each other. You're great kids, you know-even with all this Ultron shit…you're going to do amazing things."

"You don't need to-"

"I'm not. It's just fact. I mean, I don't have precognition or anything (although that would be really cool), but you two are going to accomplish some amazing things. And I can say I knew you way back when. But really-what I want to say is thank you. For saving my life. For protecting my children. And for being the part of our family that we didn't realize was missing."

"Thank you for giving us a family to be a part of."

He gave them each a hug-they more than deserved that. "Okay. So, call tonight. Tell me how it goes and tell everyone back at the base I said hello."

"Of course." Pietro said. "Give the cats a little extra attention from us."

"Of course." He turned to leave and had almost reached the doorway to the plane's hold when Wanda called him back.

"This has been the best summer of my entire life." she said sincerely while Pietro nodded his agreement.

He had to smile at that. "I know exactly what you mean." _And they were only supposed to be here for a couple of weeks, too._

~IT~

Exactly three minutes later, a shiny silver quinjet streaked off into the morning sky, carrying two new Avengers to a brand new life.

Far below them, on a farm almost completely hidden by the landscape surrounding it, five people watched them leave.

And Clint found himself forced to admit that it truly had been the best summer of his life, too.

He was just sitting down to watch a movie with his family for the first time in almost four months without the twins when his work phone pinged with an incoming text from Steve. _Twins are settling in well. Do you think you had enough time?_

He didn't even need to think about it. _You tell me. Are they ready to be Avengers?_

The text came almost instantaneously: a resolute yes.

THE END

 **And we're finished! I hope you enjoyed it :)**

 **I have no plans for a sequel in the immediate future, but keep an eye out for a couple of one shots here and there (maybe some kind of special closer to the holiday season…)**

 **Once again, I just want to thank everyone so much for reading this book. Your support means a lot and I've really loved writing all of these chapters. Be sure to leave a review and tell me what you think about the story overall.**

 **Thanks for reading! You guys are the best!**

 **Have an amazing rest of your day!**


End file.
